Regulating the Media Flashcards
What does the US Constitution say about Copyright?
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
What is a copyrightable work?
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.
Where does copyright belong? What is an exception?
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.
What is the Copyright Term Extension Act (1998)?
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.
What is Eldred v. Ashcroft (2003)?
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What are examples of copyrightable work
Including all printed materials, plays, music, sculptures, photographs, drawings, graphics.
The author of a work may:
- Authorize derivative or adoptive rights; 2. Distribute the work; 3. Perform the work; 4. Copy the work
What is Burden of Proof?
• That the plaintiff owned the copyright; • That the defendant copied the work
If there is no direct evidence, the plaintiff can prove the case by __________.
Circumstantial evidence, i.e.,
- That the defendant had access to the work;
- That there is substantial similarity between the two works in question
What is the Fair Use Defense?
- 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.
To determine when the Fair Use Defense applies, a court looks at what four factors?
- The purpose and character of the copy
- The nature of the original
- The amount and substantiality of the copying
- The effect on the marketability of the original
What are the questions asked to see the purpose and character of the copy?
○ 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)
Are parodies protected?
Yes
50 years after a work is published, the copyright owner must…..
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.
When is a copy transformative?
If it creates a new or original work
Was the Cat Not in the Hat a parody?
No.
What happened in the Authors Guild v. Google, Inc?
- 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
What was Lawrence Lessing’s solution to the issues of copyright?
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
What copyright issues involved JK Rowling?
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What’s important about Mickey Mouse?
Mickey Mouse is more well known than Santa Claus
What happened with copyright and the growth of NFL?
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
How does War of the Worlds relate to copyright?
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
Was q. “The Ron Burgundy Distinguished Lecture Series” at Oklahoma State University a copyright violation?
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