History
The NYU Journal of Intellectual Property and Entertainment Law began its development in 2009, when student leaders of NYU Law’s Intellectual Property and Entertainment Law Society found themselves confronted with the reality that NYU had no journal devoted to these increasingly important areas of the law. So, these proactive students undertook the extraordinary task of creating an entirely student-run and online publication called “The Ledger,” as an outlet for scholarly editorials and a forum for dialogue among legal practitioners, agents, and students, dedicated to analyzing issues in the fields of art, entertainment, intellectual property, internet, sports, and technology law. After only a few years, The Ledger had grown substantially and developed a major presence among the IP community at NYU Law.
But, it didn’t stop there. With the support of NYU’s IP faculty and students, the new student leaders of the Ledger worked with the administration to take the publication to the next level, and join the ranks of NYU’s official law journals. Thus, these students founded the Journal of Intellectual Property and Entertainment Law (JIPEL) with the goal of encouraging scholarly discourse between academics, practitioners, and students interested in intellectual property and entertainment law topics.
Consistent with its unique development, JIPEL publishes innovative content. It does this by publishing scholarly articles that address timely and cutting-edge topics in the world of intellectual property and entertainment law along with comments and criticism of those articles by industry professionals. As NYU’s first and only online journal, JIPEL also provides an opportunity for discourse through comments from all of its readers. There are no subscriptions, or subscription fees; in keeping with the open-access and free discourse goals of the students responsible for JIPEL’s existence, the content is available for free to anyone interested in intellectual property and entertainment law.
Membership
As members of the law school’s only journal devoted to academic scholarship in intellectual property and entertainment law, JIPEL editors play an important role in the publication of every JIPEL issue. Staff Editors gain invaluable research, writing, and editing experience through their close involvement with one article in their selected area of interest each semester, and also have the opportunity to interact with academics and industry professionals. As members of NYU’s first and only online journal, members have the unique opportunity to become web content editors, and to contribute to the innovation of the Journal.
Positions
Second-year law students on the journal may choose either to be Staff Editors or Web Editors for the Journal, or both. Staff Editors take on extensive responsibilities in the publication process through which they gain invaluable skills in legal research, writing, and analysis. Web Editors contribute substantially to the design and functionality of the website, as well as many other innovative ideas that JIPEL, a paperless Journal, has incorporated into its publication process. Third-year law students on the Journal choose among a variety of editorial board positions, which vary in responsibilities and commitment.
Selection
JIPEL seeks to bring together a diverse group of students from all areas of the entertainment, arts, technology, and sports law industries who show a dedicated interest in trademark, copyright, and/or patent law. Staff Editors are selected through the first-year writing competition based on their writing and analytical skills as well as their demonstrated interest in intellectual property, entertainment, arts, technology, and sports law. In selecting our membership, we consider writing competition entries, personal statements, grades and resumes. We recognize that each one of these criteria provides important information about an individual’s qualifications and abilities to contribute to the Journal, and therefore strive to view each applicant on a holistic basis.
Students who wish to become Web Editors for the Journal or join the Notes Program should mention this interest in their personal statements. This interest will be weighted in the application process.
Transfer Student Selection
At the very beginning of the academic year, the law journals conduct a smaller version of the standard writing competition for newly enrolled second-year transfer students. From this competition, JIPEL will also consider applications depending on the number of 2Ls selected in the first-year writing competition, in which prospective transfer students do not participate.