Copyright Who Owns It?

Brainstorm PROPERTY Dictionary: The RIGHT to possess, use and dispose of something. Something as a piece of writing in which copyrights or other rights are held.

Write Have you ever had anything stolen? How did you feel? What if you knew someone stole something and someone else was accused? What if the thief was your friend?

Intellectual Property Inventions Books Designs Logos Articles Plant varieties Music

Copyright EXCLUSIVE right to publish, sell and reproduce a literary, dramatic, musical or artistic work.

Intellectual property IDEAS Automatically protected by Copyright Law

Where did Copyright come From?

Gutenberg Press Medieval Napster? The printing press threatened the clergy’s monopoly on ideas.

Control Printing needed control Author’s had to sign works in case they disagreed with the King or the Clergy Only ONE company was allowed to print. Authors were treated like terrorists.

Consider Is the theft of intellectual property the same as stealing real property? If ideas were continually being stolen or copied, how would the artist / musician feel about creating any more?

Survey: Have We ALL Done IT? Photocopying Copying videos CD’s Movies Computer software Activity: Music Downloading survey

Famous cases Visual / Audio Infringement

Copyright Website VISUAL infringers

Audio Infringers

Case #1. You be the Judge

Case #1 George Harrison 1976 “My Sweet Lord” The Chiffons 1960’s “He’s So Fine” Tempo 1 nothing alike 2 similar 3 totally different Rhythm 1 nothing alike 2 similar 3 totally different Lyrics 1 nothing alike 2 similar 3 totally different Melody 1 nothing alike 2 similar 3 totally different

Court Ruling Melodic passages "My sweet Lord"/"He's so fine" are identical in chord pattern and melody. "I really want to see you" and "I don't know how I'm gonna do it" are ALSO identical in melody.

Court Ruling George Harrison lost this lawsuit. The judge said he "subconsciously plagiarized" this on "My Sweet Lord," his first single as a solo artist. He was ordered to pay Bright Tunes Music, who owned the copyright, $587,000.

Case 2: You Be the Judge Huey Lewis Ray Parker Jr.

Case #2 Huey Lewis ” I Want a New Drug ” Settled out of court Agreed not to disclose the case Ray Parker, Jr. “Ghostbusters” Admitted wrong doing Agreed not to disclose the case Sued in 1976 after hearing Lewis’ interview with MTV. Tempo 1 nothing alike 2 similar 3 totally different Rhythm 1 nothing alike 2 similar 3 totally different Lyrics 1 nothing alike 2 similar 3 totally different Melody 1 nothing alike 2 similar 3 totally different

Case #3: You be the judge

Case 3 Queen / David Bowie “Under Pressure” Vanilla Ice “ Ice Ice Baby” Tempo 1 nothing alike 2 similar 3 totally different Rhythm 1 nothing alike 2 similar 3 totally different Lyrics 1 nothing alike 2 similar 3 totally different Melody 1 nothing alike 2 similar 3 totally different

Ruling NO DOUBT…Vanilla Ice “sampled” Queen’s work. It is believed they settled out of court to avoid bad publicity. A producer for Death Row Records claimed that he wrote it. The head of the label and former football player, visited Vanilla Ice and convinced him to sign over the publishing rights to Death Row (by hanging him over a balcony?)

Fair Use

Four Tests Purpose Profit? Education? Nature Deserving of protection? Amount No more than necessary 10% 30 seconds Effect Potential sales

Copyright

Songfacts is a searchable database of song information compiled by radio professionals, music enthusiasts, and visitors to the web site.

Works Cited Kaemming, Laura. “You Be the Judge Lesson Plan.” Cyberbee 25 March “Music as Intellectual Property – Who Pays the Price?” Music Alive December Songfacts. 25 March