Regulating the Media

Question 1

What does the US Constitution say about Copyright?

Answer 1

Congress shall promote the progress of sciences and the arts “by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries.”.” – U.S. Const., art. 1, sec. 8

Question 2

What is a copyrightable work?

Answer 2

i. Is…any work “fixed in any tangible medium of expression…from which [it] can be perceived reproduced, or otherwise communicated.” ii. Including all printed materials, plays, music, sculptures, photographs, drawings, and graphics.

Question 3

Where does copyright belong? What is an exception?

Answer 3

i. Belongs to the author for life plus 70 years ii. Unless the work is a work for gire, that is, (1) it is prepared by an employee in the scope of employment, or (2) it is specifically ordered or commissioned.

Question 4

What is the Copyright Term Extension Act (1998)?

Answer 4

Since the Copyright Act of 1976,copyright would last for the life of the author plus 50 years, or 75 years for a work of corporate authorship. The Act extended these terms to life of the author plus 70 years and for works of corporate authorship to 120 years after creation or 95 years after publication, whichever endpoint is earlier.[1] Copyright protection for works published prior to January 1, 1978, was increased by 20 years to a total of 95 years from their publication date.

Question 5

What is Eldred v. Ashcroft (2003)?

Answer 5

…

Question 6

What are examples of copyrightable work

Answer 6

Including all printed materials, plays, music, sculptures, photographs, drawings, graphics.

Question 7

The author of a work may:

Answer 7

1. Authorize derivative or adoptive rights; 2. Distribute the work; 3. Perform the work; 4. Copy the work

Question 8

What is Burden of Proof?

Answer 8

• That the plaintiff owned the copyright; • That the defendant copied the work

Question 9

If there is no direct evidence, the plaintiff can prove the case by __________.

Answer 9

Circumstantial evidence, i.e.,

• That the defendant had access to the work;
• That there is substantial similarity between the two works in question

Question 10

What is the Fair Use Defense?

Answer 10

• Is designed to reconcile society’s interest in encouraging creativity with the need to allow dissemination and discussion of work.
• A defendant has to prove this.

Question 11

To determine when the Fair Use Defense applies, a court looks at what four factors?

Answer 11

1. The purpose and character of the copy
2. The nature of the original
3. The amount and substantiality of the copying
4. The effect on the marketability of the original

Question 12

What are the questions asked to see the purpose and character of the copy?

Answer 12

○ Is the secondary uses commerical or for nonprofit or education purposes?

○ Does the secondary use serve the public interest by stimulating creativity

○ Is the secondary use transformative

• Campbell v. Acuff-Rose Music (1994)

Question 13

Are parodies protected?

Answer 13

Yes

Question 14

50 years after a work is published, the copyright owner must…..

Answer 14

Register the work and pay a small fee. The copyright owner would then have the full term of copyright. Otherwise the work would fall into the public domain.

Question 15

When is a copy transformative?

Answer 15

If it creates a new or original work

Question 16

Was the Cat Not in the Hat a parody?

Answer 16

No.

Question 17

What happened in the Authors Guild v. Google, Inc?

Answer 17

1. 2004, Google Books project announced 2. 2005, class action lawsuit filed 3. 2011, Judge Chin rejects settlement 4. Nov. 14, 2013, Judge Chin releases opinion on copyright infringement claim 5. The project is highly transformative; it makes snippets, rather than entire works available; it Google does not sell the snippets 6. The copyrighted works are books that remain available to the public 7. While the entire works are copied, only snippets are made available 8. A reasonable fact finder could only find

Question 18

What was Lawrence Lessing’s solution to the issues of copyright?

Answer 18

i. 50 years after a work is published, the copyright owner must register the work and pay a small fee ii. the copyright owner would have then have the full term of the copyright iii. otherwise the work would fall into the public domain

Question 19

What copyright issues involved JK Rowling?

Answer 19

…

Question 20

What’s important about Mickey Mouse?

Answer 20

Mickey Mouse is more well known than Santa Claus

Question 21

What happened with copyright and the growth of NFL?

Answer 21

i. Barnee Breeskin writes the team song in 1938 ii. In the 1950s, Breeskin sells the rights to the song to Clint Murchison iii. Murchison trades the rights back to George Preston Marshall iv. And the Dallas Cowboys are part of the NFL

Question 22

How does War of the Worlds relate to copyright?

Answer 22

i. 1938, Orson Wells directing plays on Broadway ii. Weekly Radio Show called The Mercury Theater on The Air 1. War of the Worlds 2. Literature and put it onto radio plays a. Aliens invading radio show gets out of hand i. Took place in NJ and NY ii. People became frightened across the country iii. On October 30, 1938, broadcast by the Mercury Theater on the Air iv. Dispute between Howard Koch and Orson Welles v. Use of the transcript in scholarship

Question 23

Was q. “The Ron Burgundy Distinguished Lecture Series” at Oklahoma State University a copyright violation?

Answer 23

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