Legal Clinic - Arts & Entertainment Advocacy Field Program
Students in the Arts & Entertainment Advocacy Field Program represent artists and small businesses in the arts in copyright and related areas of law. Past projects have included filing amicus briefs in groundbreaking copyright litigation in federal circuit courts and the Supreme Court, representing arts clients in agency proceedings including testifying in administrative hearings and roundtables, counseling clients launching various arts-oriented businesses, counseling a documentary filmmaker on aspects of her production work and interacting with foreign government representatives on IP treaties.
Program class sessions will include significant opportunities to meet with and learn from industry and law firm leaders, and students will be mentored in their client work by practitioners in the Washington, D.C. area. Students also participate in artist counseling sessions organized in partnership with entities such as the Washington Area Lawyers for the Arts. Students will also work with clients who have cases before the Copyright Claims Board. Student advisors are required to attend class meetings, check in meetings, and conduct significant out of class work for clients.
This program is credits (2 in-class, 1 out-of-class) and runs Fall 2025 and/or Spring 2026. It qualifies as an Experiential (E) course (to satisfy the experiential graduation requirement) or as a Writing (W) course (eligible to be counted towards students’ upper-level writing requirement) – students can apply it to either requirement (but not both). Preference is given to students who have taken or are currently taking Copyright Law, Intellectual Property, or Entertainment Law. Preference will also be given to students who commit to concurrently enrolling in the 1-credit Copyright Claims Board & Advocacy Field Program (which represents clients before the CCB). For consideration, submit a current resume, transcript, and statement of interest (500 words or less) to Professor Keeley at mkeeley4@gmu.edu and Professor Williams at jwill202@gmu.edu. Applications will be considered on a rolling basis. If accepted, students will be enrolled by the Records Office in the course.