Read the Following Scenarios and Decide If They Would Be Considered Fair Use

Copyright

Explain that Coldplay wrote to Kraftwerk to ask for permission to use the main riff from Kraftwerk’s 1981 song “Computer Love” in Coldplay’s 2005 song “Talk.”

Fair Use

There is a Fair Use Checklist that helps you determine whether or not something can be considered “fair use.” It is very vague and expects that you use your own good judgment. Just because something is considered “fair use” doesn’t mean you don’t have to cite it. You must always give credit to the original creator unless it’s in the public domain (the next topic!).

Read the following scenarios and decide if they would be considered Fair Use:

. John is writing a science term paper on the life of a ferret. He has used two books, a general encyclopedia, and several Websites to gather his information. He has put much of the information into his own words but has used a few direct quotes, citing information that is not his own. Is his work okay according to the Checklist for Fair Use? Why or why not? (Answer: yes—educational purposes; only a portion of information used; factual information; paraphrased; and credit given.)

. Mary and her friends like the poems of Shel Silverstein, so she copied a bunch of the poems using the school photocopier, stapled them together, and made plans to sell the booklet to anyone who wants it. Is this fair use? Why or why not? (Answer: no—the poems being reproduced are not the student's own work; entire poems used; heart of the work used; creative work; copies sold, therefore depriving author of income.)

. Uncle Marty always videotapes family events. He has put together a video CD with some of the highlights and is giving out the CDs to family members. He has asked each recipient to pay him for the cost of the blank CD so he can continue to make more copies. Is this fair use? Why or why not? (Answer: yes—originator doing the reproduction.)

. Taylor has purchased music from iTunes and placed it on her MP3 player. She also gave the music to three of her friends. Are these uses fair? Why or why not? (Answer: yes and no—The download to Taylor's MP3 player is fine because she paid for the download; however, giving the music to her friends is not because it deprives the copyright owner of income.)

Public Domain

Many works in the public domain seem to be old. A lot of classical music, for example, is public domain. Also, a lot of classic literature is public domain, and as a result, you can find a lot of full-text versions of it online. Moby Dick, Dracula, Pride and Prejudice Project Gutenberg

Copyright Infringement

Piracy and plagiarism are 2 examples of copyright infringement.

Read the following scenarios and decide if they are examples of piracy, plagiarism, or another type of copyright infringement:

Mary highlights the entire Wikipedia article about tropical fish, copies it, and pastes it onto a blank Word document. She adds an introductory paragraph about her tropical fish collection and types “written by Mary” at the top of the page. Mary prints the paper and turns it in to her science teacher. PLAGIARISM

Jim loves music from the 90’s and illegally downloads songs onto his computer. PIRACY

Janet is making a website for her bakery. She broke her camera, so she uses pictures of cupcakes from other bakeries on her website. Janet doesn’t indicate on her website who actually took the pictures, but she assumes other bakers wouldn’t mind sharing their cupcake pictures. COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT

Mrs. Bartels sells copied CDs at her garage sale. PIRACY

Meg uses 11 different websites while doing research for her project about pirates. She writes a report in her own words and cites all her sources. She makes copies of her report for her friends so they can help her proofread it. OK

Bob buys a CD and burns copies to give all his friends for Christmas. He scribbles the name of the artist on the burned CDs. PIRACY

Mrs. Schroeder uses a few paragraphs from Twilight to demonstrate first person narrative in her English class. She makes copies of the paragraphs for all of her students and cites the source. OK

Melissa has social studies with Mr. Fix. Melissa’s sister had Mr. Fix last year and got an ‘A’ on her report “Foods from Around the World.” Melissa is very busy, so she copies her sister’s entire report, including the Work Cited page, and submits it to Mr. Fix. PLAGIARISM

Dan creates a website with Edgar Allan Poe’s poem “The Raven” on it. The background music for the website is Beethoven’s “Moonlight Sonata,” but he doesn’t mention Beethoven’s name anywhere on the website. OK

It’s the last day to see the Harry Potter movie in the theatre, and Sarah’s boyfriend just dumped her. Sarah’s friends want to see the movie, but they’re all busy that night. Sarah goes to the theatre alone and films the entire movie on her camera. That night she uploads the video file to the Internet so all her friends can watch it, too. PIRACY

Avoiding Copyright Infringement

Summarizing

Use graphic organizer to summarize:

Somebody Wanted But So -- Picture book

Who What When Where Why How -- Passage of nonfiction text Salem Witchcraft Trials – World Book The Salem Witchcraft Trials were trials that resulted from the largest witch hunt in American history. The trials were held in 1692 in Salem, a town in the Massachusetts Bay Colony. The Massachusetts Bay Colony was an English colony, and many people there had brought the belief in witchcraft from England. Under English law, witchcraft was punishable by death. The Salem trials began when several girls began to behave strangely. They crawled under tables, uttered weird sounds, and screamed that they were being tortured. Suspicions led to arrests and then to the trials. 19 people, both men and women, were convicted and hanged as witches. Another man was pressed to death with large stones for refusing to plead innocent or guilty to the witchcraft charge. About 150 other people were imprisoned. The Salem trials resulted in the last witchcraft executions in America. Loch Ness Monster – World Book The Loch Ness monster is a large animal that some people believe lives in Loch Ness, a lake in northern Scotland. If such a creature exists, it avoids people. But hundreds of people have reported seeing the animal, nicknamed “Nessie.” The creature supposedly has flippers, one or two humps, and a long, slender neck. Some observers believe the Loch Ness monster may be related to a dinosaurlike reptile or to a modern sea animal, such as the manatee or seal. The earliest description of a strange creature in Loch Ness dates from A.D. 565. Reported sightings increased during the 1930’s, when a new highway made the lake more accessible to travelers. While some photos have proven to be hoaxes, Nessie’s lure continues to attract tourists. Lizzie Borden – World Book Lizzie Borden was the defendant in one of the most celebrated murder trials in United States history. In 1860, she was born in Fall River, MA, and her mother died when she was two. Lizzie’s father remarried two years later. Lizzie and her sister scorned their new step-mother because of her family’s inferior social position. Lizzie was active in charitable and religious groups, but when the bloody corpses of her father and step-mother were found in 1892, suspicion fell on her. She was in the house at the time of the murder, so rumors about her guilt became widespread. Many people supported her, however, because of her good reputation. Even though Lizzie was accused of killing her father and step-mother with an ax, a jury eventually found her not guilty. Dracula – World Book Dracula, a novel by the English author Bram Stoker, is the most famous vampire story of all time. The main character is a wicked nobleman, Count Dracula of Transylvania, a region of Romania. Dracula is a vampire – a corpse that returns to life at night, attacks innocent people, and sucks their blood. In the novel, Dracula’s search for new victims leads him to England, where he pursues two young women. Dracula was based on vampire legends that probably arose from hundreds of savage murders committed in the 1400’s by Vlad Tepes, a prince from Walachia, a region south of Transylvania. Stoker’s novel, published in 1897, is probably best known as a motion picture. Film versions include Nosferatu (1922) and Dracula (1931). Lost Colony – World Book “Lost Colony” is the name given to a settlement established in 1587 on Roanoke Island, off the coast of what is now North Carolina. The colony is called lost because no one knows what happened to its people or where they went. The colony consisted of 117 people. In 1590, a colonist named John White returned to Roanoke Island from England with supplies, but the colony had been abandoned. The only traces of the lost colonists were the letters CRO carved on one tree and Croatoan carved on another. The Croatoan, or Hatteras, Indians were friendly Indians who lived on an island south of Roanoke Island. Due to a storm, John White was unable to determine if the lost colonists had gone to live with the Croatoans. Instead he returned to England, and the lost colonists were never seen again by any European. Some modern historians think that most of the lost colonists may have moved to Chesapeake Bay and perished there in conflicts with Indians. Stories collected by Virginians indicate that members of the Lost Colony may have mingled with several Indian tribes. The Lumbee Indians, who live in southeastern North Carolina, believe themselves to be descendants of the lost colonists and of Indians who lived nearby. Stonehenge – World Book Stonehenge is an ancient monument in southwestern England. It consists of a group of huge, rough-cut stones set in circles. Archaeologists believe that ancient peoples built Stonehenge and used it as a tribal gathering place and as a religious center. Excavations in the 1950’s proved the monument was built between 2800 to 1500 B.C. The monument’s famous ring of large stones may have been used for religious ceremonies until A.D. 43. At that time, the Romans conquered the British and abolished many of their religious practices. Through the years, the great stones gradually fell, or people took them to make bridges and dams. But from the positions of the stones still in place, scholars have learned what the monument looked like originally. Some scholars have shown that the stones and layout of Stonehenge were probably used to determine when important astronomical events would occur. The religious and tribal ceremonies were probably linked to the rising and setting of the sun at the summer solstice, and the rising of the moon at both the summer and winter solstices. Researchers estimate that the construction of Stonehenge took its builders about 30 million hours and hundreds of years to complete. In 1922, the British government began to restore Stonehenge and place scattered stones back in their original positions. The government now takes care of the monument, and it attracts over one million tourists each year. Paraphrasing The original passage: Students frequently overuse direct quotation in taking notes, and as a result they overuse quotations in the final [research] paper. Probably only about 10% of your final manuscript should appear as directly quoted matter. Therefore, you should strive to limit the amount of exact transcribing of source materials while taking notes. Lester, James D. Writing Research Papers. 2nd ed. (1976): 46-47. An acceptable summary: Students should take just a few notes in direct quotation from sources to help minimize the amount of quoted material in a research paper (Lester 46-47). A plagiarized version: Students often use too many direct quotations when they take notes, resulting in too many of them in the final research paper. In fact, probably only about 10% of the final copy should consist of directly quoted material. So it is important to limit the amount of source material copied while taking notes. A legitimate paraphrase: In research papers students often quote excessively, failing to keep quoted material down to a desirable level. Since the problem usually originates during note taking, it is essential to minimize the material recorded verbatim (Lester 46- 47). Change the structure and words of the following sentences: The automobile is chartreuse. Preparations for the ceremony were elaborate. The educator removed the unruly student from the environment. Several diffident individuals banded together to form a consortium. The adolescent maneuvered the bi-wheeled vehicle undamaged. In the metropolis the recreational area was dilapidated. Try paraphrasing the same 6 paragraphs that you summarized. Quoting

Quote sparingly. Only use a quotation if it really enhances your writing.

Citing Sources