Participation in this course empowers you to engage in independent and critical examination of legal foundations, their dissemination, and their application in the digital realm. We'll be delving into copyright law, the right to one's own image, and data privacy considerations, all of which hold relevance within the realms of education and society. Following this, we'll delve into questions of accessibility and availability, particularly in relation to visual content.

In addition to foundational insights, we'll collaboratively explore legal mechanisms operating in the digital sphere through various case studies—such as those drawn from Digital or Visual Cultures. We'll analyze their societal and educational implications as well. The goal here is to not only grasp the core principles of current legal frameworks, but also to be able to critically contextualize and discuss them.

Topics include: Copyright; Image rights; Data protection; Open Access/Open Source; AI, NFTs, Immersive Exhibitions; Social Media; Memes; Censorship; Surveillance capitalism; Momfluencer/Sharenting; Revenge Porn, Grooming, Stalking; Deepfakes.

Course languages: German/English

Active participation (30%), research/reading preparation (30%), short presentation (40%)

Literature (selection):

Jacob Kastrenakes, How many layers of copyright infringement are in Emily Ratajkowski's new NFT? Ratajkowski trolls an art troll, The Verge, Apr 24, 2021.

Felix Stalder, Der Autor am Ende der Gutenberg Galaxis, Zürich 2014.

Kenneth Goldsmith, Duchamp Is My Lawyer, New York 2020.

Shoshana Zuboff, The Age of Surveillance Capitalism. The Fight for the Future at the New Frontier of Power, New York 2019.

Cathy O'Neil, Weapons of Math Destruction, New York 2016.

Thomas S. Mullaney / Benjamin Peters / Mar Hicks / Kavita Philip (Ed.), Your Computer Is on Fire, Cambridge (MA) 2021.