Learning Outcomes
Students will be able to:
- Describe the origins and purpose of copyright in the United States.
- Identify five exclusive rights of creators protected by copyright law.
- Identify types of works protected under copyright law.
Relevant Threshold Concepts
- Information has value.
Suggestions for Use
- This activity should be helpful in classes where students will be creating work in a tangible form and/or learning about their own copyright protection as creators.
- Copyright is a complex topic, and this activity presents it at the most basic level in a positive rather than punitive way—as what rights creators have, as opposed to how to avoid violating the copyrights of others.
- Copyright is a complex topic, and this activity presents it at the most basic level in a positive rather than punitive way—as what rights creators have, as opposed to how to avoid violating the copyrights of others.
- By using the pretest before your discussion, you will help prime your students to learn more from the discussion you lead afterward.
- Students can take the pre- and post-tests electronically or in print.
- Comparing the class’s average scores or individuals’ scores on the pretest and post-test will give you information about how much students learned from the discussion.
- The website of the Copyright Services at Ohio State University Libraries (go.osu.edu/copyrightbasics) is a good resource for students.
Pre-Class Preparation
- Review the handouts and answer sheet for this activity.
- Review In-Class Procedure below.
- Decide whether you want students to complete Handout 11A-1 and 11A-2 on paper or electronically.
- If you decided on electronic handouts, put Handout 11A-1 and 11A-2 in your learning management system.
- If you decided on electronic handouts, print Handout 11A-1 (1 copy per student and 1 for yourself) and 11A-2 (1 copy per student and 1 for yourself) and Answer Key 11A-1 (1 copy for yourself).
- If you decided on paper copies, print Handout 10B-1 (1 copy per student and 1 for yourself) and Answer Key 10B-1 (1 copy for yourself).
- Prepare for leading the discussion, using your own remarks or the Possible Script below, if it seems helpful.
- Consider projecting most of the Possible Script during the discussion you lead.
- Download and perhaps print In-Class Procedure so you can take it with you to class.
In-Class Procedure
- If you’re having students use printed copies of Handout 11A-1, pass them out or set them where students can pick them up as they come in.
- If you’re having students use electronic Handout 11A-1 tell them how to find and open it.
- Introduce the activity using the Possible Script or an introduction of your own (about 5 min.).
- Ask students to complete Handout 11A-1 to the best of their ability in 5 minutes.
- After 5 minutes, collect Handout 11A-1 without discussion. Ask students to keep their pretest answers in mind as you discuss information about copyright basics.
- Present and discuss the remarks you prepared or the Possible Script below. Use the whiteboard to list relevant information as you present it or project the Possible Script, excluding the first paragraph.
- Erase the white board and/or turn off the projector.
- Pass out Handout 11A-2 or tell students how to find and open it electronically.
- Ask students to complete Handout 11A-2 in 5 minutes.
- After 5 minutes, collect Handout 11A-2.
- Later, compare the average score for the class on the pretest and on the post-test to see how much students learned from your discussion. If students put names on their pre-and post-tests, you could even check to see if individual students learned from the discussion. If you want to rule out chance as the reason scores changed, use a t test.
- Return Handout 11A-1 or Handout 11A-2 to students.
Possible Script:
You just completed a short quiz about copyright. Instead of discussing the answers at this point, I want to discuss the basics of copyright covered in the quiz. Copyright is complex and has broad implications for what we create and invent. So today we’ll just cover the basics.
Five Exclusive Rights: Copyright law grants five exclusive rights to the copyright holder. They include the right to:
- Reproduce a work (make physical or digital copies)
- Prepare derivative works (making something new that includes major portions of the original work)
- Distribute a work (sharing, posting, selling, publishing, etc.)
- Publicly display a work (show in a public place)
- Publicly perform a work (such as playing music, showing movies, or any other performance of the work).
Origins and Purpose: Copyright in the United States has its origins in the U.S. Constitution. Article 1, Section 8 states, “The Congress shall have the power … to promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries.”
Copyright grants authors and creators exclusive rights that allow them to benefit from sharing their creative works. The word “creative” does not only refer to artistic expression. Rather, it means that an author or other creator has produced something new through a creative process.
Discussion Questions: Why is it important that your right to share your work be protected? In what ways might you benefit from sharing a creative work protected by copyright law?
When protection starts: You create copyrighted works every time you fix your creative and original ideas into what’s called a tangible form of expression. Examples of tangible forms of expression are a photograph, written text, a painting, a sound recording, a music score, or other creative work. In some situations, such as work made for hire, you will not be the copyright owner. Instead, your employer might be.
Discussion Question: What are some works you have created that are protected by copyright?
Types of works protected: As stated before, copyright applies to any creative work fixed in some tangible form of expression. In other words, it has to exist independent of the creator’s mind or body. Works protected by copyright include:
- Literary works
- Musical works, including any accompanying words
- Dramatic works, including any accompanying music
- Pantomimes and choreography
- Pictorial, graphic, and sculptural works
- Motion pictures and other audiovisual works
- Sound recordings
- Architectural works
Relevant Choosing & Using Sources Chapters:
Chapter 11, Copyright Basics.
Credit: Staff at the Copyright Resources Center at Ohio State University Libraries contributed to this activity.
