‘Genius’: UM law school offers a class on Taylor Swift’s intellectual property empire

Most people become Swifties because they fall in love with Taylor Swift’s lyrics or her tunes.

An adjunct professor at the University of Miami, however, not only likes Swift’s music, but also the way she’s used intellectual property laws to shape culture.

So much so, that Vivek Jayaram decided to teach a seven-week intensive class at UM’s School of Law this fall called “Intellectual Property Law Through the Lens of Taylor Swift.”

Turns out that when it comes to that type of law — which protects the rights of creators and owners of inventions, writing, music, designs and other works — Swift is a “genius,” Jayaram said.

“I thought it would be neat and fascinating,” he said. “Here’s somebody who has obviously captured the attention of the world and to show students that there are some really interesting legal issues that she’s encountered in her career can help them understand how what they have learned is important, meaningful and relevant to what they’ll be doing in a couple of years.”

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The course, a part of the UM’s master of law in entertainment, arts and sports law, started in October. More than a third — 19 — of the total students registered in the master’s program — 54 — signed up for the class, which will meet once a week.

Jayaram, an attorney in intellectual property, said he plans to discuss topics like lawsuits filed against Swift. Examples include how Evermore Park, a theme park in Utah, sued Swift over the alleged infringement on the attraction’s trademarks because of her “Evermore” album, and how two songwriters accused her of copyright infringement and sued her over her “Shake it Off” record.

Also on the class’s syllabus: how and why Swift re-recorded her earlier albums with (Taylor’s version), her registered trademarks, her contracts, and her conflicts with paparazzi violating her privacy.

Asked whether he would touch on how Swift’s boyfriend, Travis Kelce, recently filed new trademark requests for his name and catchphrases like “Alright Nah,” Jayaram laughed and said he might.

“There’s a lot of meat on the bones here in terms of the breath of IP issues that this particular artist has encountered over time,” Jayaram added.

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Alanna Sadler, a third year law student getting both her Juris doctorate in law and master of law degrees at the same time at UM, said she signed up for the course on Swift because she likes her.

“I was very excited,” the 26-year-old said about the moment she realized she could take the class, “but I was not surprised because this is the type of stuff that we do.”

The entertainment master’s degree is one of eight programs at UM’s law school; others focus on expertise areas like estate planning, tax and international law.

In the entertainment master’s program, students take traditional courses like business associations, antitrust, tax and labor law — as well as other specialized ones like Swift’s, said Greg Levy, the associate dean of academic and student services and strategic initiatives at the UM law school, and the director of the master of law program in entertainment, arts and sports law.

“We set the foundation by making them take all of the core classes,” Levy said, “but then we’ve developed this selection of about 35 or so of these specialized courses. Those really focus on contemporary issues, so they apply substantive areas of law to current industry trends and develop practical lawyering skills to give them an edge to try and get into what are otherwise very difficult industries.”

A previous version of this story listed the wrong core classes for the entertainment master’s program.