Copyright Story

You Stole My Heart and Song

It was one of those kinds of songs that after you first hear it, you cant get it out of your head.
You will find yourself humming the melody and walking to the tempo of the beat. We call that a
hit record.
Sarah Connelly was enjoying one of those kinds of songs after hearing it on the radio while
driving to work. At work, the song refused to leave her brain and she would occasionally breath
out, Your love makes me alive; alive, alive under her breath. It was about 4:30 in the afternoon
when she began to realize that the song was very familiar to her really familiar. She stopped
motionless at the thunderous thought, I wrote that song. She gave herself a slight correction:
Well really, I wrote the words to that song. Sarah was sure she had written those
wordssomewhere, some time ago when she was in her poetry-writing phase in high school,
she was sure she had written those words.
Out of curiosity, Sarah pulled into the music store on her way home and looked at the CD that
featured the song Love Alive. The song CD cover credited the song to a Brian Wells. She
stared at the CD cover as if to make sure of what she was seeing. She and Brian had dated in
high school, and she had shared several of her poems with him.
Sarah bought the CD and hurried home. She quickly drug an old storage box out of the attic and
dug through the carefully packed memorabilia until she found a flowery notebook. She flipped
through the pages of the notebook like wind and stopped suddenly at one page. There it was
her poem Love Alive. And she had sent a copy to Brian to express her love to him.
All that evening, Sarah had two emotions. She was proud that one of her poems was good
enough to make a hit record, and she was furious that Brian stole her poem for the song.
The next day, Sarah spent a good part of the day finding contact information for Brian through
the record label. She finally sent him an e-mail explaining who she was and reminding him that
she had written the words to Love Alive and that she should at least be paid royalties.
Later that day, Brian responded, Sarah, how good to hear from you after all these years. You
should be very proud that your words are featured in this hit song its doing very well. But you
dont have any claims to royalties because
1. You never registered the poem for a copyright.
2. You gave me the poem as a gift, so it belongs to me.
3. You wrote the poem more than 10 years ago, so any copyright would have expired.
However, if you have any other poems or songs, I would be glad to consider them for future
projects.
Answer the following questions:
What do you think?
1. Is Brian right?
2. What should Sarah do?

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Copyright Outline Organizer

What is Copyright?
I. What is copyright?
A. Title 17 of the U.S. Code
1.

provided by

2. Protects the authors of

B. What copyright is not:
1. Patent:
2. Trademark:

a product or service in the

C. Available to
1.

and

works

2. Section 106 of
D. Copyright gives exclusive rights and ability to authorize
7. ____________ ____________work in copies or ____________
8. ____________ ____________ based upon the work
9. Distribution of copies ____________ by sale, transfer of
ownership, rental, lease, or lending
10.

of the work publicly

11.

of the work publicly

12.____________ ____________ sound recordings

____________ ____________ by digital audio transmission

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E. Copyright protects
1.

works

2.

works

3.

works

4. Artistic works:

, and
F. Copyright does not protect
1.
2.
3.
4.
G. When is the work protected?
1. The moment it is

and

in a tangible

form
2. It is

either directly or with the aid of a

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II. Registration of Copyright

C. Rights of Registration
1. Registration is
2. Copyright exists from the

3. To file a lawsuit for infringement, you will have to ____________.

D. Copyright term depends on many factors:
1. Individuals: the
plus an additional

years.

2. Corporations: for contract works and certain other works,

copyright protection lasts

years from

III. Use of Copyrighted Works

F. Fair Use Doctrine
1. Is a

that determines how much a

item can be used legally without

2. Section 107 of Title U.S. code contains

for

of a particular work.
G. Exceptions are
1.

,
,

,
and

2. Public domain items/works

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H. Rules of thumb
1. Limit the use of copies to
2.

of a journal issue

3. Several

4. Other

, and
of a work

I. Caveats
1. There is no specific number of __________, ________, or
that may be taken without permission.
2. Acknowledging the source of the copyrighted material does not
substitute for
J. Bottom Line
1.

your research at all times (bibliography and foot

notes).

2. If you publish copyrighted work on your own website or in

another publication,

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Copyright Vocabulary Organizer

1. Copyright (): A form of ____________ grounded in the U.S.
Constitution and granted by law for original works of
____________ fixed in a tangible medium of
expression.

2. Fair Use:

A ____________ that determines how much of a

copyrighted item can be used legally without
permission.

3. First Sale
Doctrine:

4. Intellectual
Property:

The doctrine allows a ____________ to transfer a

lawfully made copy of the copyrighted work without
permission once it has been obtained. A copyright
holders rights to control the change of ownership of a
particular work end once that copy is sold, as long as
no ____________ ____________copies are made.

Intangible property that is a product of the

____________ (e.g.., copyrights, trademarks and
patents).

5. Patent:

A ____________ granted by the U.S. Patent Office for

a limited time to the creator of a new ____________.

6. Permission:

Consent to use a work, usually by ____________ or

____________ it in some other work.

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7. Phonorecords: Digital phonorecords are a relatively new

____________ that allows musical works to be played,
recorded, and stored in ____________ format for use
on computers or other devices.

8. Plagiarism:

To ____________ and pass off the ideas or words of

another as ones own or to use anothers production
without crediting the source.

9. Public Domain: Works for which copyright protection has

____________ and works created by officers or
employees of the U.S. government as part of their
government jobs.

10. Trademark (): A word or ____________ used to identify a product or

service in the marketplace.

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Copyright Assignment
I. Objective:
Students will study copyright laws and research their purpose, regulations, effects, and penalties.
II. Assignment:
A. Create a presentation on one of the following topics:
(No more than 3 students can research the same topic in the same class period)
1. Copyright laws in general
2. Sonny Bono Copyright Extension Act of 1998 (aka the Mickey Mouse Extension Act)
3. Fair Use doctrine and tests
4. Research papers for education
5. Phonorecords & digital phonorecords (records, tapes, CDs, Mp3)
6. Research for education, public service, or non-profit purposes
7. Peer-to-Peer coping and sharing (CDs, DVDs, music videos, ring tones, Internet information)
8. Dramatic and artistic works (art, photography, plays, musicals, choreography, movies)
9. Architectural drawings and diagrams
10. Other copyright related topic approved by instructor
B. Include presentation on the following as they apply to your topic:
1. Which copyright law/regulation applies?
2. Why are copyright laws important to this topic?
3. How can copyright be infringed?
4. How does Public Domain apply to your topic?
5. Does Fair Use apply to this topic? (If yes, how does Fair Use apply?)
6. What are the penalties for infringement?
7. How can infringement be prevented?
8. Who can you contact for permission?
9. How do copyright rules affect teens on this topic?
III.

Additional Requirements:
A. References
1. Evaluate all reference web sites using Web Site Validity Checklist worksheet
2. Bibliography slide
a. Display all references used in presentation
b. Have at least 5 references
c. Use bibliography form approved by your instructor
d. Number each reference
e. Display as last slide of presentation
3. Footnotes
a. For Internet references, place URL at bottom of the slide
b. For hard copy references, place bibliography number at bottom of the slide
4. Do not use Wikipedia.com
B. Length
1. Must be at least 3 minutes long to receive minimum credit
2. Should be 4 to 7 minutes long to receive full credit
C. Slides
1. Must have a Title Slide
2. Must have enough body slides to convey your message
3. Must have a bibliography slide (last slide)

IV. Presentation:
A. Deliver your presentation to the rest of the class
(Option to present to another class or another group approved by instructor)

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Student: ______________________________________________________ Period: __________________

Copyright Assignment Rubric

Total possible points is 100
5 Points

4 Points

2-3 Points

0-1 Point

Awarded

CONTENT

Objective clearly covered

Superior

Suitable

Mediocre

Inadequate

Topic clearly covered

Superior

Suitable

Mediocre

Inadequate

Font (type/size/contrast)

Superior

Suitable

Dark/Light

Wrong font

Appropriate graphics

Superior

Suitable

Dark/Light

Inappropriate

Accurate research

Superior

Suitable

Mediocre

Inadequate

Content useful to viewer(s)

Superior

Suitable

Mediocre

Inadequate

TECHNICAL

Transitions work properly

Superior

Suitable

Mediocre

Inadequate

Animations are logical and creative

Superior

Suitable

Mediocre

Inadequate

Timing for viewing logical

Appropriate

Fast/Slow

Hard to follow

Inadequate

Contains all presentation elements

(introduction, body, conclusion)

3 to 7 minutes in length

>4

3-4

2-3

0-2

GRAPHICS/BACKGROUND

Graphics enhance topic

Superior

Suitable

Mediocre

Inadequate

Background complements

Superior

Suitable

Mediocre

Inadequate

Appropriate contrast

Superior

Suitable

Mediocre

Inadequate

LAYOUT/DESIGN

Pleasing to the eye

Superior

Suitable

Mediocre

Inadequate

Easy to navigate

Superior

Suitable

Mediocre

Inadequate

Elements of appropriate size

Superior

Suitable

Mediocre

Inadequate

Grammar / Spelling / Punctuation

Superior

Suitable

Mediocre

Inadequate

RESEARCH/REFERENCES

Bibliography (# of sources)

5+

---0---

---0---

---0---

Use of footnotes/URL notes

Superior

Suitable

Mediocre

Inadequate

Grade (total points awarded)

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Web Site Validity Check List

Report Topic:
Site URL:
Name/Title of site:

V N

Criteria
Who owns the domain? (Who is <URL> use search engine reliable or dubious)
Is the site a paid ad or infomercial? (big negative)
Is the name of the author listed? (biggie for valid research)
Who wrote the pages? (right click, view source, check META tag names)
Is the author an expert? (Who is <author> search engine reliable or dubious)
What is the purpose of the site? (stated by the author)
Does the overall site reflect a bias? (judgment call)
When was the site created? (judge for most recent facts needed)
When was the site last updated? (judge for most recent facts needed)
From where does the information come? (Check believable/valid resources?)
Is the information useful for my assignment? (your opinion)

Total V,N
Conclusion: V=Valid N=Not Valid

Add site to Bibliography:

YES (do the valid marks outweigh the not valid marks?)
NO

Validated Web Site Notes

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