What if I don't take copyright Forum

[gnuwheels]

So I was just accepted to a relatively prestigious externship/clinic opportunity at my school for next semester. Problem is, It has a regularly scheduled component that I just found out conflicts with copyright, and next semester is the last time copyright will be offered before I graduate.

Copyright is probably the most important elective for me at law school. I'm not sure I'll be going straight into IP, but I have a background in a copyright-related field and have career plans to work in that area. I'm going to a firm that has a strong IP-lit department and hope to gain experience there. I also worked in a copyright-heavy position last summer and hope to continue to do that work.

Part of me thinks its incredibly stupid to turn down the opportunity just to take a class. Especially when so much of this work is learned on the job.

But then again, for the kind of work I hope to end up in, copyright is probably THE most important class to take, and I'm afraid that not having it on my transcript will hurt me in my career.

Any advice?

[ph14]

So I was just accepted to a relatively prestigious externship/clinic opportunity at my school for next semester. Problem is, It has a regularly scheduled component that I just found out it conflicts with copyright, and next semester is the last time copyright will be offered before I graduate.

Copyright is probably the most important elective for me at law school. I'm not sure I'll be going straight into IP, but I have a background in a copyright-related field and have career plans to work in that area. I'm going to a firm that has a strong IP-lit department and hope to gain experience there. I also worked in a copyright-heavy position last summer and hope to continue to do that work.

Part of me thinks its incredibly stupid to turn down the opportunity just to take a class. Especially when so much of this work is learned on the job.

But then again, for the kind of work I hope to end up in, copyright is probably THE most important class to take, and I'm afraid that not having it on my transcript will hurt me in my career.

Any advice?

If it is the "most important elective for [you] at law school," why did you wait until your final semester to sign up for it? Anyways, talk to the clinic and explain your situation. Maybe they can be flexible about the externship/clinic. If not, this depends on what exactly you mean by "relatively prestigious externship/clinic opportunity"? If it is externing with a judge and you've accepted, then you need to honor that commitment. If it is some non-IP, non-copyright clinic, then I think that you should probably consider taking copyright. I mean, what if you hate the class? I understand that is unlikely because you worked in a copyright-heavy position last summer.

Anyways, I vote for copyright, because I don't think any clinic is really prestigious, and so I think it's better for you to take a class in the area you are pretty set on practicing in.

[gnuwheels]

If it is the "most important elective for [you] at law school," why did you wait until your final semester to sign up for it?

The school's fault. The copyright prof took sabbatical, and is also somewhat of a dictator and refused to let the school have someone else teach the course while they were gone. So in my last 4 semesters of law school it will only have been offered once.

[ph14]

If it is the "most important elective for [you] at law school," why did you wait until your final semester to sign up for it?

The school's fault. The copyright prof took sabbatical, and is also somewhat of a dictator and refused to let the school have someone else teach the course while they were gone. So in my last 4 semesters of law school it will only have been offered once.

Wow. That's law school for you. I think i'd still take the course since that's the area you want to specialize in, especially if the clinic/externship is non-IP.