Defamation in the Internet Era

Your research paper must be at least 20 pages and no more than 25 pages in length (12 point type, double-spaced text and single-spaced footnotes). Your paper may cover any topic (to be approved by me in advance) based on torts law. If you wish, you may write about any of the potential class session discussion topics listed above, but many other topics may be of interest to you as well. The paper must constitute an original work of authorship by you, and must not be derived from any other papers or articles you have written in the past or that you may currently be working on (see “A Note about Plagiarism” below). It must also contain appropriate footnote citations to the sources you relied upon in researching for your paper. Any ideas or recommendations contained in your paper that are derived from other sources (i.e., are not original to you), must contain appropriate attribution to those sources. The paper should also conform to “good law review practices” (e.g., be typed using correct spelling and grammar; have appropriate use of section captions and footnotes; contain proper Bluebook citations; etc.). Your paper should be organized along the following lines, and will be graded consistent with how well you develop each of the following sections (as well as how well the paper conforms to the other requirements set forth in this Syllabus): I. Introduction containing a brief overview and description of the issues you are addressing, as well as a brief summary of your thesis, analysis and conclusion. Include in the introduction a “roadmap” briefly highlighting what you will address in each section of the paper. 3 II. Descriptive Section: describe the issue you are addressing, including current relevant case law, statutes, and what other scholars have written related to the issue. This may be the longest portion of your paper, but it is less challenging than writing the critical/normative section, because it is merely describing the issue and its background. III. Critical/Normative Section: discuss the problem(s) you perceive with that law, explain what you believe to be the best approach to those problem(s), and explain why you support your approach over other potential approaches. IV. Conclusion: briefly conclude with a review of what you have addressed, and summarize your conclusion(s).