Music Distribution and Copyright
Grade Level: Middle and High
Overview:
This guided discussion will help students understand copyright law, especially its relevance in this technology-based era. It begins by probing students’ experiences with online media, and eliciting their understanding of copyright. The formal definition can then be presented. A hypothetical copyright conflict between the Jims Brothers and the FrontStreet Boys will illustrate the complexity of copyright law in this technological era.
Time Needed: 1 class period
Materials Needed:
Procedure
- Introduction
Start the discussion by drawing the students’ attention to the current issues.
With developing technologies and new mobile devices, many people don’t think twice about copyrights when it comes to downloading the newest chart-topping single or latest magazine story. However, copyright and ownership issues haven’t simply gone away as it has become easier to access creative works. Instead, it is the debates surrounding them that have changed and will continue to do so.
Next, ask the participants to think about how copyright laws might affect them.
How many of you have downloaded some music, a television show, or a movie in the last week?
Where did you get the file? How did you play it? Did you pay for it? If not, do you think you should have? Could you pass the downloaded files to someone else? Did you see a copyright notice?
If participants are unfamiliar with common copyright notices, provide samples, which are available here. The discussion should move next to define copyright and its purpose.
- Defining Copyright
Ask students: What do you think copyright is?
At this point, students might offer suggestions focusing on ownership and control.
Additionally, students might discuss who should be eligible to make money from creative works or inventions. Using a definition from Black’s Law Dictionary, guide students through these resources that lawyers might use to answer this question.
In Black’s Law Dictionary, “copyright” refers to “a property right in an original work of authorship (such as a literary, musical, artistic, photographic, or film work) … giving the holder the exclusive right to reproduce, adapt, distribute, perform, and display the work.” If you have the copyright to a work, you have the ability to control how it is distributed. Why is it important to have laws that protect these ownership rights?
There are a number of possible responses participants might offer, including encouraging advancements in technology and creativity, and how copyright makes that possible; benefiting society by granting everyone access to assets such as medicines and creative works of great value; and protecting and clarifying the rights to ownership and control.
Why would you want to control your creative works? How long should you be able to hold a copyright? What is fair?
Students’ answers might focus on the ability to make money and be compensated for time and effort. You might also highlight the issue of artistic control, for example, that artists may want their music to only be available for free or limit how and where the music may be used. On the other hand, a writer may want to charge for essays if they are being distributed to the general public, but may want to distribute them for free to classrooms. Another writer may want to receive compensation regardless of the distribution channel.
- Who Owns That Song: The Jims Brothers or The FrontStreet Boys?
In order to help students understand practical issues involving copyright, present the following hypothetical and work through discussion questions with students.
- Wrap up:
Today, technology has changed the way we create and distribute creative and artistic works—it is easier and, often, instantaneous. As technology has changed, so too have our expectations. Many people expect to be able to listen to a song, read a book or newspaper article, or view a movie for free or at a low cost.
In many ways, the law is constantly changing to meet current and developing challenges and trends; the law of copyright and intellectual property is no exception. Of course, what is true with regard to our expectations and experiences today probably wasn’t true yesterday and might not be tomorrow. And just as technology, our expectations and our values change—so too must our laws.
Resources
Recording Industry Association of America – Tools for Parents and Educators http://www.riaa.com/toolsforparents.php
New York Times article: Free Music Downloads Without the Legal Peril http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/04/technology/personaltech/04basics.html
Washington Post article: Download Uproar: Record Industry Goes After Personal Use http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/12/28/AR2007122800693.html
Official Google Books site http://books.google.com/googlebooks/about.html
Copyright Agreement Examples Here are some examples of common copyright agreements for various Internet downloading programs and sites:
iTunes Terms of Service http://www.apple.com/legal/itunes/us/terms.html#SERVICE
YouTube http://www.youtube.com/t/dmca_policy
Other Copyright and Downloading Curricula
Close Up Foundation http://www.riaa.com/toolsforparents.php?content_selector=tools_pe_educators
PBS Lesson Plan: A Penny for Your Thoughts, Music, or Movies? http://www.pbs.org/newshour/extra/teachers/lessonplans/socialstudies/downloading.html
National Curriculum Standards for Social Studies, National Council for the Social Studies
Theme 6: Power, Authority, and Governance
Theme 7: Production, Distribution, and Consumption