Niels B. Schaumann
Dean Emeritus
Professor of Law
Biography
Professor Schaumann is an expert in copyright law and federal securities regulation. He has taught courses in copyright law, computer law, comparative and international intellectual property, agency, partnership, corporations, securities regulation, and corporate finance. He is a frequent speaker on topics of copyright law and securities law and has often served as an expert witness in copyright and securities cases.
Professor Schaumann served as President and Dean of California Western from 2012 to 2020. Prior to his appointment he served as a professor and Vice Dean for Faculty at William Mitchell College of Law in St. Paul, Minnesota.
Academic and Professional Background
Professor Schaumann graduated cum laude from Fordham Law School in 1984, where he was the Managing Editor of the Fordham Law Review. After law school, he was a law clerk to Judge Lawrence W. Pierce of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. He then practiced law for more than four years with the New York law firm of Cravath, Swaine & Moore, specializing in corporate matters including securities, mergers and acquisitions, leveraged leasing, and capital markets. Before attending law school, he was a professional musician in New York City.
- J.D. Fordham University School of Law [cum laude]
- B.A. SUNY College at Plattsburg [Music][magna cum laude]
- Business Organizations
- Copyright Law
Visit Professor Schaumann's SSRN Author Page.
He is the author of numerous articles on copyright law, including:
- Niels Schaumann, Fair Use and Appropriation Art, 6 Cybaris 121 (2015).
- Niels Schaumann, Direct Infringement on Peer-to-Peer Networks, J. Internet L. 1 (April 2005).
- Niels Schaumann, Copyright Class War, 11 UCLA Ent. L. Rev. 247 (2004).
- Niels Schaumann, Copyright, Containers, and the Court: A Reply to Professor Leaffer, 30 Wm. Mitchell L. Rev. 1617 (2004).
- Niels Schaumann, The Sarbanes-Oxley Act: A Bird's-Eye View, 30 Wm. Mitchell L. Rev. 1315 (2004).
- Niels Schaumann, Copyright vs. Consumer, Ent. & Sports L., Spring 2003, at 1.
- Niels Schaumann, Copyright Infringement and Peer-to-Peer Technology, 28 Wm. Mitchell L. Rev. 1001 (2002).
- Niels Schaumann, An Artist's Privilege, 15 Cardozo Arts & Ent. L.J. 249 (1997).
- Niels Schaumann, Small Business and Copyright Ownership, 22 Wm. Mitchell L. Rev. 1469 (1996).
- Niels Schaumann, Copyright Protection in the Cable Television Industry: Satellite Retransmission and the Passive Carrier Exemption, 51 Fordham L. Rev. 637 (1983).
He has also contributed to multiple editions of the Securities Regulation title in the Gilbert's Law Summaries series (West Publishing Corp.) and is the author of an article on the law of fiduciary relationships, The Lender as Unconventional Fiduciary, 23 Seton Hall L. Rev. 21 (1992). His current scholarship focuses on the history of copyright law.