0.3 Free but not fair uses  (Page 3/3)

• What other uses are not infringing?

Titles are not covered by copyright. You may quote a title of an article, song, or movie as needed. You may even use an already-published title on your new publication – so long as the original title is not protected by trademark.(U.S. Copyright Office)

A use that parodies the original use of a song, poem, movie, etc., is considered a Fair Use. In order to be a parody, the new version must comment on the original in some way. (U.S. Copyright Office) A famous example is 2 Live Crew’s version of “Pretty Woman.” The original song by Roy Orbison portrayed the woman as wholesome and desirable; the 2 Live Crew version portrays women who are pretty, yes, but are completely trashy when you get closer to them. In contrast, a song that uses the tune and re-writes the lyrics to a well-known song (such as those made popular by Weird Al Yankovich) is committing satire, not parody. “Weird Al” must acquire permission for most of his songs.

Read more about the “Pretty Woman” case at (External Link) (Copyright Website , 1)

“Scenes-a-faire” refers to commons settings in major genres of literature or movies. A western movie, for example, will commonly have cowboys, cattle, horses, tumbleweeds, small towns, a saloon, etc. Such commons scene elements cannot be copyrighted. “Scenes-a-faire” is French for a “scene that must be done”.

• Conclusion: Was Daniel right to be concerned?

Yes, Daniel was right to be concerned about making 50 copies of two chapters of a textbook. Section 110, which covers educational uses, allows for a “performance or display” of a legally acquired copy during class time. While the textbook copy was legally acquired, the copies were not for performance or display during class time. Fair Use might apply to the making of these copies, but §110 does not.

Glossary:

License: A deed by which one person or organization gives another person or organization permission to do something.

Legally acquired: Not stolen, illegally downloaded, or received from someone who is likely to have stolen or otherwise illegally acquired it.

Scenarios:

Section 110 Educational use .

Scenario 1) Cindy was working on a power point presentation for her child psychology class. Knowing that power points can be dull, she wanted to use some photographs to liven it up. Yet she didn’t have time to set up and take the photos herself, and didn’t want to “break the law” by stealing them off the Internet, like her roommate was doing. What should Cindy do?

Scenario 2) Mr. Frazier, a 2 ^nd grade teacher, had discovered that movies, especially animated movies, were a great motivation for his students. If 80% of them could score an A or B on a certain number of assignments, he would let them watch a recent popular children’s movie. He would rent the movies at a nearby store, and use a school DVD player. Is Mr. Frazier’s motivation in violation of copyright?

Creative Commons :

Scenario 3) Blogging.net set up its free blogging software in 2006. They set up each blog so that its content was automatically covered by a Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivation-No Commercial use license. While bloggers could opt out of this license, most were not aware of it. Are there any reasons for or against this approach?

Scenario 4) Sarah and Steven are delighted with their 3-year-old’s creativity. Like many parents, they see a lot more originality in these pictures than other people do. They have been scanning his pictures and displaying them on the Internet. To protect the pictures, Steven has been registering each one with Creative

Commons. Remembering that Creative Commons is based on basic copyright law, is there anything wrong about this situation?

Idea/Expression :

Scenario 5) Gary is an artist who has used news photos to base his paintings on ever since he began painting. He would rarely use the whole photo; normally he would select a detail, often not the main focus of the photo, and make that detail into a new painting. His paintings are “modern,” often making use of shading and coloring to convey a feeling or message. Despite these differences, a news photographer from the Chicago Tribune has accused Gary of copyright infringement. Gary’s painting of the angry strikers at a labor dispute can clearly be identified as “very similar” to the strikers in the background of the news photo. What factors of this situation argue for infringement? What factors argue for non-infringing use?

Scenario 6) Julia is a professor of biology at a State University. It is a few days before the semester starts, and she has just found an excellent set of class exercises at the end of the chapters in a textbook not used at her university. What steps should Julia take to use the exercises – or others that are based on them – in a non-infringing manner?

Titles

Scenario 7) Ryan wrote a song about a woman he’d met. Although it did not sound at all like the Roy Orbison song, he titled it “Pretty Woman,” as it seemed the most appropriate title. Is Ryan infringing on Orbison’s copyright?

Bibliography

Chapter 3: Free But Not Fair Use

Bob Merrill v. Straus (1908).

Copyright Website. "2 Live Crew and the Case of the Pretty Woman." Copyright Website 2010, http://www.benedict.com/Audio/Crew/Crew.aspx .

Creative Commons. "Creative Commons." Creative Commons 2010, http://creativecommons.org/ .

U.S. Copyright Office. "Fair use." , http://www.copyright.gov/fls/fl102.html .

USC 17 Section 110: Limitations on Exclusive Rights: Exemption of Certain, Performances and Displays, (b).

USC 17: 109. Limitations of Exclusive Rights: Effect of Transfer of Particular Copy of Phonorecord. (c).

USC Title 17: 102(b) Subject Matter of Copyright. (d).

———. "What does Copyright Protect?" http://www.copyright.gov/help/faq/faq-protect.html .