LAWS 7789 Entertainment Law

Most entertainment law practitioners agree "Entertainment Law" has no set definition, but includes a hybrid of distinct areas of the law, including but not limited to, copyright, trademark, contracts, wills, estate planning, real estate, bankruptcy and intellectual property. Course focuses on the protection of IP and the contractual relationships between various parties in the Entertainment and Music Industry. A major focus will be analysis of the Copyright Act of 1976, as amended, the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, and the protection of IP and contractual rights in TV, film, music, books, etc. The relationship between the artist and his/her manager, agent, lawyer, and record company will be explored in great detail. Course will cover representation of artists and music labels and the problems they encounter. Students will participate in a group exercise where they negotiate a record deal on behalf of either the artist or the record label, and report back their terms to instructors.

Course overview

Department
Law
School
LAW
Credits
3
Level
Graduate
Offered
Every Fall

Course evaluations

Response-weighted averages from Boston College’s official course evaluations (Avalanche/Blue).

Course rating
4.01 / 5 · Very Good
99 responses
Instructor rating
4.22 / 5 · Very Good
99 responses
Terms evaluated
5
Most recent: Fall 2025

Scales: overall ratings run from 1 (poor) to 5 (excellent); agreement questions from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree); weekly effort from 1 (up to 1 hour) to 5 (10 or more hours).

Evaluations by term and instructor
TermInstructorCourse overallInstructor overallWell organizedClear learning objectivesIntellectually challengingHelpful assignmentsApplicable beyond courseAttendance necessaryWeekly effortResponses
Fall 2025Christopher Brown4.24.44.24.24.34.54.74.61–3 hrs/week21 of 24
Fall 2024Christopher Brown4.24.54.24.24.34.44.34.61–3 hrs/week20 of 21
Fall 2023Christopher Brown—————————21 of 24
Fall 2022Christopher Brown3.84.04.03.83.84.44.44.31–3 hrs/week19 of 24
Fall 2021Christopher Brown3.94.14.13.93.84.04.23.9—18 of 23

Data freshness

Course and evaluation data last updated 2026-10-09. Source details and limitations are documented in Data Sources and Methodology.

Instructors

  • Christopher Brown
    Fall 2025, Fall 2024, Fall 2023, Fall 2022, Fall 2021 · Official rating 4.22/5