This is an elective course on how property law is adapting to the digital world. Types of property to be considered will include:
We will discuss how these types of property are defined, the rights of their owners, and the kinds of transactions that are possible in them. The focus will be on United States law, with some comparative discussion of different approaches taken by other jurisdictions.
Students who complete this course will be able to:
For more information about previous iterations of this course, consult my courses webpage.
This course is intended primarily for law students. Although there are no formal prerequisites, you should be familiar with the property law of at least one jurisdiction. The course will begin with an accelerated review of some essential concepts of United States property law.
Non-law students with a particular interest in the subject matter and willingness to do substantial extra work are welcome to take the course with the permission of the instructor. I am happy to refer you to resources that can give you a grounding in property law, but you will need to do outside readings to fill yourself in on the relevant background.
Please see the course policies document for information about COVID-19 safety; inclusion; names, titles and pronouns; the history of the site where the course takes place; academic integrity; unauthorized collaboration policy; accessibility and accommodations for disabilities; class recordings; and professionalism.
This syllabus is at http://james.grimmelmann.net/courses/digitalproperty2025S.
Email: james.grimmelmann@cornell.edu
Huddle: Bloomberg 370
Desk: Bloomberg 3 NW, near the bookshelves
My office hours are whenever I’m free during the workday. You can sign up for a slot at https://jtlg.me/meet. When I’m on campus, we can meet in person in my huddle; when I’m not, there’s a Zoom link on Canvas. If none of the available times work for you, send me an email or DM me on the Cornell Tech Slack.
It’s also always fine just to swing by to see if I’m free. If I have headphones on, just catch my eye. If my huddle door is open, come on in. If it’s closed, it’s closed for a reason (usually a call or a meeting) – send me an email!
The required readings will mostly be taken from cases, articles, and other materials posted to Canvas. At least at first, many of the readings will be provided in the form of excerpts a draft casebook, Digital Property, available under Files on Canvas.
The following are not required but you may find them useful:
Our class sessions will be devoted almost entirely to discussing the assigned cases and articles. Even more so than in a standard law-school class, it is essential to work through the ideas yourself. Some of what the readings say will be unintuitive; some of it will be wrong.
Attendance in class is required. Especially in view of the other significant demands on your time, I will be understanding about conflicts and flexible in working with you to make alternative arrangements as needed. That said, consistent unexcused absences are not okay, and may lead to a reduced grade or exclusion from the course (after reasonable written warning).
Please arrive promptly. I promise that we will end on time, but that means we must start on time. Bring the readings with you, either on your computer or in hard copy.
This is a hybrid course. If you are joining by Zoom, please remember to turn on your camera and to mute your microphone except when you are speaking. It is possible that due to weather or childcare problems I may sometimes need to switch the entire class to Zoom for a day; I will do my best to give you as much advance notice as I can when this is the case.
Questions are always welcome, even when we are discussing something else. Occasionally I will ask you to hold a question because we are about to answer it in a few minutes when discussing another case, but otherwise I will do my best to answer all questions immediately. If something is unclear to you, it is probably unclear to your classmates – and sometimes it is unclear to me, too.
Your work for this class will consist of the following:
First, do the assigned readings and participate in class discussions.
There will be a short take-home midterm, which will will tentatively be available starting on March 10 and due by 11:59 PM on March 17.
Finally, there will be a take-home final examination, which will tentatively be available starting on May 8 and due by 11:59 PM on May 15. It will be like the midterm, except that I will give you two questions rather than one, and the questions may range over the entire course.
All written work will be blind-graded; I will provide instructions to ensure appropriate anonymity.
Your grades will be determined as follows:
I may adjust grades up or down by one third of a grade (e.g. B+ to A-) for consistently good or poor class participation. I consider good class participation to be anything that helps your fellow students learn, and poor participation to be anything that obstructs their learning.
The final course grades will conform to Cornell Law School’s grading curve, which require that all courses be curved to a mean grade of 3.35., i.e. very close to B+.
The course will meet in a hybrid format. We will meet in person in Bloomberg room 81 at Cornell Tech and by Zoom for the Ithaca section. If you are in the Cornell Tech section and are quarantining or traveling or have another good reason to join remotely and have confirmed with me in advance, it is okay to join the Zoom directly.
We will usually meet Mondays and Wednesdays 1:00 to 2:00.
Please note that we follow the university calendar, not the law-school calendar.
The following is a tentative schedule of topics and readings. I will fill in the details as we go. “Readings” are the actual material you need to prepare for class. “Background” materials are optional; you can review them if you want more of a technical or legal grounding.
January 22: A Property Primer
January 27: Property Torts
January 29: Computer Misuse
February 3: Domain Names I (conversion)
February 5: Domain Names II (trademarks etc.)
February 10: Accounts I (user/user)
February 12: Accounts II (user/company)
February 19: Payments I (history)
February 24: Payments II (today)
February 26: Virtual Property
March 3: Database Rights
March 5: Personal Data
March 10: Data Property?
March 12: First Sale
March 17: Data Portability
March 19: Generative AI
March 24: No class (JG at CSLAW)
March 26: No class (JG at CSLAW)
March 31: No class (spring break)
April 2: No class (spring break)
April 7: Technical Foundations
April 9: Legal Foundations
April 14: Technical vs. Legal
April 16: Possession vs. Ownership
April 21: Tokenization
April 23: NFTs and Art
April 28: t/b/d
April 30: t/b/d
May 5: t/b/d