Twelve Caribbean Students Pass 2022 Edition of Harvard Law School CopyrightX Course

Kingston, Jamaica – June 1, 2022 – Twelve students from across the Caribbean will receive certificates of completion from the Berkman Klein Center for Internet and Society at Harvard Law School for having successfully completed the CopyrightX course, which took place over 12 weeks beginning in January of this year. The CopyrightX Caribbean section of Harvard Law School’s online CopyrightX course was led by local IP and Entertainment attorney, Sarah Hsia of Rockstone Legal, herself a graduate of Harvard Law School, along with Dr. Bryan Khan, an IP professional and copyright scholar from Trinidad.

Overall, the students that passed the challenging exam, which was the same exam given to Harvard Law School students, hailed from Trinidad and Tobago (6), Jamaica (3), Barbados (1), St. Kitts (1), and Suriname (1). The student cohort includes legal professionals, music industry, and public sector professionals working in the creative industries.

The CopyrightX course explores the current law of copyright; the impact of that law on art, entertainment, and industry; and the ongoing debates concerning how the law should be reformed. Through a combination of recorded lectures, assigned readings, weekly seminars, live interactive webcasts, and online discussions, participants in the course examine and assess the ways in which the copyright system seeks to stimulate and regulate creative expression.

The course is divided into three parts: (a) a residential course on Copyright Law, taught by Prof. William Fisher at Harvard Law School; (b) an online course divided into sections of 25 students (each section taught by a Harvard Teaching Fellow); and (c) a set of affiliated courses, most of which are based in countries other than the United States, each taught by an expert in copyright law.

The first ever “satellite” section of the CopyrightX course was taught by Ms. Hsia in Jamaica in 2013 in collaboration with Norman Manley Law School. In 2021, the Jamaican satellite course was expanded to reach students across the Caribbean Region and was relaunched as ‘CopyrightX Caribbean’. The 2021 Edition of the course was a major success, producing 12 successful students.

Between the 2021 and 2022 editions, the course has produced 24 successful students with a wide range of backgrounds in the legal and creative industries. The course has attracted participants from 12 countries to date (Barbados, Dominican Republic, Dominica, Guayana, Haiti, Jamaica, St. Kitts and Nevis, St Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, and the USA).

The next edition of the course is anticipated to begin in January 2024, and applications will be open in September 2023.