New Certificate in Entertainment, Media, and Sports Law announced
June 24, 2016 -- Today, the Pepperdine University Academic Council approved a new Certificate in Entertainment, Media & Sports Law, to be offered by Pepperdine School of Law starting in Fall 2016. The Certificate will be available to anyone possessing or in the process of obtaining a law degree and will require completion of 12-14 units of upper division coursework (12 units by current Pepperdine Law students, 14 units by all other students). Examples of eligible courses include Communications Law, International Entertainment and Copyright Law (offered in London, England), and Olympic & International Sports Dispute Resolution.
Pepperdine Law professor Maureen Weston, Academic Co-Director of the Pepperdine University Institute for Entertainment, Media, and Sports (IEMS) and faculty advisor for the law school's popular Sports & Entertainment Law Society (SELS) (Facebook), welcomed the announcement:
"We at the law school are excited to present the new certificate and LLM in entertainment, media, and sports. We are fortunate to combine the depth of interest of our students and the expertise of our faculty, alumni, and industry professionals in a formal program focused on the dynamic operations in entertainment, media, and sports. Los Angeles is certainly an epicenter for these industries, and we aspire to help our students learn, engage, and get involved. This effort is part of the Pepperdine's initiative for interdisciplinary work with the Institute for Entertainment Media and Culture."
Entertainment Law at Pepperdine University
The Certificate and a future LLM join a broad range of entertainment law related offerings launched at Pepperdine University in recent years, formalizing decades of deep involvement in the entertainment industries by University students and alumni. Nearby Los Angeles hosts ten professional sports teams and countless collegiate and amateur teams in addition to the national television networks and film industries famously based in Hollywood, Burbank, and surrounding areas, providing a wealth of opportunities for law students and legal professionals. Entertainment has been one of the fastest-growing industries in the United States for years.