Copyright Basics – Teacher’s Version
1. Give one example of real property and one of intellectual property not listed in the article.
Examples of real property: food, clothes, cars, electronics, etc.
Examples of intellectual property: music, the content of a book, a film, a video game, etc.
2. Give two examples of derivative works not listed in the article.
Examples: a sequel or prequel to a story; a remix of a song; a toy of a copyrighted character; any adaptation of a work to another medium.
3. Give two examples of works that are in the public domain.
Examples: Shakespeare and other pre-modern playwrights; most folk and classical music; stories and characters from mythology. However: a new translation or adaptation of any of these could be copyrighted, and a new recording of folk or classical music would be copyrighted. (Also, some folk and “classical” music does have known authors and is under copyright. Don’t assume it’s in the public domain!)
4. Give an example not listed in the article of a common activity that is considered fair dealing.
Examples: quoting from a work in an essay; using quotes or clips in a review; creating a parody of a work (such as in Mad magazine – though many parody artists, such as Weird Al Yankovic, do get permission from the copyright owners); reading aloud from a copyrighted work, performing a copyrighted play, or creating a dance set to copyrighted music within a classroom (not for an audience).
5. How is whether a work is in the public domain relevant to remixing?
Works in the public domain are not under copyright, so you can do anything you like with them. For example, anyone can do a “reboot” of the story of Hercules using all the elements that were in the original Greek myths, but anything that was created for the Disney movie is under copyright.
6. How are Creative Commons licences relevant to remixing?
Many (but not all) Creative Commons licences allow you to use content for remixing purposes under certain limitations.
How is fair dealing relevant to remixing?
Remixing may be considered fair dealing if the remix serves a purpose of education, criticism, satire or parody. For example, “Wes Anderson, The Substance of Style” could be considered as education if it’s used to teach students about film-making, or as criticism (since it’s a critical examination of a particular director’s style – “criticism” does not have to be negative.) “Garfield Minus Garfield” could be considered a parody of the original “Garfield” comics.
How is the user-generated content exception relevant to remixing?
The UGC exception allows a wide range of remixes so long as they follow the four rules set out in the Copyright Act (non-commercial purpose; source is given; legally available work; does not compete with copyrighted work.) For example, the “Nightwing: the Series” video probably would not be considered fair dealing, but would likely be considered as protected UGC so long as it wasn’t taking money away from DC Comics/Warner Brothers.
What do you think would be the best rules to make sure that remixing is ethical in how it treats the original work(s) and their creators?
For something to be ethical it has to be right as well as legal. For example, taking a work in the public domain and claiming you wrote it would not be illegal, but it would definitely be unethical.
Examples of “best practices” include:
- Use public domain, licensed or Creative Commons material where possible
- Give credit to the sources, creators and owners
- Don’t misrepresent
- Don’t use more than you have to
- Don’t share with more people than you need to
- Do something meaningful (using a song as a soundtrack because you like it isn’t a meaningful remix) and original (your remix should be distinct from the works you used)