Copyright Law Final Exam

IPSI/98


Instructions



Please record your answers on this exam sheet. For multiple choice questions, circle the correct response (each multiple choice question includes instructions on whether you should circle only one, or have the option of circling more than one, answer). For fill-inthe-blank and short answer questions, please use the space provided here. If you need to write more than the space allows, use a blue book and be sure to let us know that your answer continues in the blue book. Be sure to record your exam number on the front of the blue book.

[Note from Prof Secor: in order to adequately test your knowledge of "copyrightability" and certain copyright ownership issues, I opted for open-ended questions, rather than multiple-choice, fill-in-the-blank, or true/false questions. As you'll see, I've kept the fact patterns short and the questions focused.]




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Question 1 (10 points)

Attorney Gordon Bucks writes a book called "Valuation of Intellectual Property Assets." The book consists of a few introductory chapters explaining basic finance and intellectual property concepts, plus a number of chapters devoted to a new valuation methodology which Bucks has developed ("the Bucks method"). The chapters on the Bucks method include the following:

Based upon the information provided here, which elements of the book do you believe are and are not protected by a copyright in the book?



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Question 2 (10 points)

Wendy Wealth writes a monthly investment newsletter, in which she includes a model investment portfolio ("the Wealth Fund"). The Wealth Fund consists of 10-12 recommended stocks, which can and do change from month to month. In each issue of the newsletter, Wendy includes the following information about the Wealth Fund:

What elements, if any, of the Wealth Report as it appears in Wendy's newsletter, are covered by copyright?



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Questions 3-5 (2 points each for #'s 3&4, 6 points for #5)

Plaintiff sells prints of her most popular painting for $25 each. Defendant acquires one of the prints and proceeds to copy it. Defendant sells 1000 of the unauthorized copies of Plaintiff's work for $20 each.

After deducting for the cost of making the prints and shipping & handling, Plaintiff makes a profit of $15 on each print she sells. After deducting for the same costs, Defendant makes a profit of $10 on each print sold.

3. If Plaintiff expected to sell the 1000 copies that Defendant sold, what are Plaintiff's damages as a result of Defendant's infringement?

A. $20,000
B. $25,000
C. $15,000
D. $ 10,000

4. Without regard for your answer to the prior question, if Plaintiff seeks to recover Defendant's profits from the infringing activity, what figure is Plaintiff required to prove?

A. $20,000
B. $10,000
C. Defendant's stated profit, minus a reasonable allowance for Defendant's overhead costs
D. None of the above.

5. List other remedies Plaintiff can seek, either in addition to or in lieu of her actual damages and Defendant's profits.




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Question 6 (10 points)

Jennifer owns and operates a software company, JENCO. Emalee is a computer programmer for JENCO. Emalee has been a good employee for JENCO, but Jennifer knows that Emalee wants to own her own business someday. Emalee has been working on an important new program for JENCO. At an office party to celebrate the completion of the new program, as a means of encouraging Emalee to stay with the company, Jennifer verbally offers to "share the copyright" in the new program with Emalee.

Briefly discuss whether Emalee owns an interest in the copyright as a result of Jennifer's statement.



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Question 7 (10 points)

Elmo Leonardo is a successful writer whose novels are often set in exotic locales. Elmo doesn't like to travel or do his own research for his novels, so he employs Guy Noire to do research for him. Guy provide Elmo with the factual information he needs to make his novels as realistic as possible. Guy has even provided Elmo with the titles of some of his novels. Elmo has always paid Guy well for his work, but Guy has been wondering lately if he's not entitled to more, especially now that some of Elmo's books are being made into movies. In fact, it occurs to Guy that Elmo really couldn't have written any of those novels without his research. Guy wants to be considered as co-author of Elmo's novels and wants to share in the royalties from Elmo's book sales and movie deals, but Elmo rejects this arrangement.

Briefly advise Guy as to whether he is a co-author of Elmo's books.




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Questions 8-32 (2 points each)

8. In order to maximize long-term economic gain from newly created works, very elderly, ill authors should (circle only one answer):
A. Register their newly created works as anonymous or pseudonymous
B. Have a much younger author make some small contribution to each new work after it is completed
C. Create a corporation and author the works as an employee of the corporation
D. A and B
E. A and C
F. All of the above

9. On December 30, 1977, an unsuccessful presidential candidate drafts a "love letter" in which he reveals certain personal habits that would be embarrassing if made public. The candidate dies on January 2, 1978, leaving a valid document that transfers "all of his copyrights" to his widow. In order to avoid "publication" of the letter, the widow claims "rights of first publication". Claiming this "right of first publication", how long can she prevent publication of the letter under current copyright law (circle only one answer)?

A. Until 2028
B. Until 2027
C. For 28 years from creation, unless she files for renewal rights
D. She cannot prevent publication under the copyright law, since the letter came from a public figure and is "newsworthy"

10. List two good (i.e. legal) reasons for registration of a copyright in a newly created work.


11. Is there any way to restore copyright in works that have gone into the public domain (yes or no answer, with one sentence explanation).




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12. What are the minimal information requirements for registration of copyright in U.S. works (circle all correct answers on this question)?

A. Name and address of author
B. Name and nationality of author
C. Title of work
D. Year of creation
E. All of the above.

13. A U.S. copyright claimant fails to put a copyright notice on copies of her works when she publishes them in 1988 (circle one or more answers).

A. She loses copyright, because of the lack of notice at time of publication.
B. She loses statutory damages against innocent infringers who have no actual notice of her rights.
C. She loses the right to register her work in the Copyright Office if publication occurs before registration.
D. She still maintains copyright under the 1978 revisions which did away with "formalities".

14. In 1992 a software company files for copyright protection in its original code, but refuses to deposit "two complete" copies with the U.S. Copyright Office when it registers its copyright in the code (circle only one answer).

A. The software company loses copyright, because deposits are mandatory.
B. The software company loses the right to file a law suit in federal court.
C. The software company automatically incurs a minimum statutory fine of $250.
D. All of the above
E. None of the above

15. The Copyright Act grants to owners of copyright the exclusive right with respect to all of their works to (circle only one answer):

A. Reproduce the copyrighted work in copies
B. Prepare derivative works based upon the copyrighted work
C. Distribute copies of the copyrighted work
D. Perform the copyrighted work publicly
E. Display the copyrighted work publicly
F. A, B and C only
G. All of the above





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16. The moral rights of an author include (circle only one answer):

A. Decency and Propriety
B. Remuneration and Attribution
C. Attribution and Integrity
D. First Publication and Public Display Without Alteration.

17. Which of the following are used by the court in determinations involving Fair Use (circle only one answer)?

A. Moral character of user
B. Specific type of copyright infringed
C. Whether the use is unsupervised
D. All of the above
E. None of the above

18. Display Telecommunications Company makes and sells computer boards. It routinely photocopies hard to get articles from leading trade journals to help its designers in their work, putting the copies in their library for general use (circle one or more answers).

A. This is fair use, because it is for the scholarly purpose of improving computers.
B. This is fair use, because the copies are made by and housed in the library.
C. This is not fair use, because all photocopying is covered under 106 exclusive rights of copyright owner.
D. This is not fair use, but can be done under a license from Copyright Clearance Center.

19. An enthusiastic law professor wants his class to have the latest information about new developments in copyright law. Just before class, he discovers a great new article from which he photocopies (at his place of employment) two pages for distribution to the entire class (circle one or more answers).

A. This photocopying is fair-use under 107 of the Copyright Act.
B. This photocopying is fair-use under 108 of the Copyright Act.
C. This photocopying is fair-use under the CONTU guidelines.
D. This photocopying is going to get the enthusiastic law professor in a lot of trouble (along with his employer), because it is considered to be a copyright infringement under the Texaco case.





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20. An individual can infringe the exclusive rights of a copyright owner by (circle only one answer):

A. Photocopying the work as part of his job in a for-profit company.
B. Singing a song in Times Square.
C. Sending a digital audio file to a friend over the Internet.
D. Projecting photographs from a book onto a screen at a tradeshow.
E. All of the above.
F. B,C and D only

21. The two elements required to prove a copyright infringement are _________ and _____________ .

22. In an action for copyright infringement, you would distinguish between the "protectable" and the "unprotectable" elements using the test of (circle only one answer):

A. Abstraction
B. Filtration
C. Comparison
D. All of the above

23. The major problem with an "independent creation" defense to a copyright infringement action is (circle only one answer):

A. It is not available as one of the statutory defenses outlined in the copyright act.
B. In any case involving works which are identical, the reproduction and performance rights are necessarily infringed.
C. The problem of proving there was no "constructive access" by defendant.
D. There is no problem, since the "independent creation" defense is freely available in copyright, even if not in patent, infringement cases.

24. To determine if a new opera infringes upon a currently copyrighted pop song (circle one or more answers):

A. You need an expert musicologist trained in classical opera and pop music to present expert testimony.
B. You need at least a full page of the scores from each work.
C. More than five notes have to be included within the "infringing work"
D. A jury or a judge must be able to listen to both pieces of music.





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25. An industrious 12 year old charges $10 to cut photos of film star Brad Pitt from copies of Teen Magazine she buys and glue them to the front of three-ring binders for her five closest friends (circle one or more answers).

A. This is a copyright infringement because it is creating a derivative work.
B. This is infringing upon the photo's copyright owner's right of first sale of similar three ring binders with Pitt's photo on them.
C. This is not a copyright infringement because it is not a work of "visual art" as defined in the statute.
D. This is not a copyright infringement because the "infringer" is a minor.

26. The same industrious 12 year old also puts together "star books" by buying dozens of magazines containing pictures of movie stars, cutting out the pictures, sorting the pictures by star and pasting the pictures of each star into his/her own book (circle one or more answers).

A. This is a copyright infringement because it is creating a derivative work.
B. This is infringing upon the magazine owner's right of compilation.
C. This is not a copyright infringement because it is not a work of "visual art" as defined in the statute.
D. This is not copyright infringement because the minor has actually already purchased the magazines and can do whatever she wants with them after the purchase.

27. I write a play about teaching biochemistry and license the public performance of the play to Union Jack Production Company. Union Jack Production Company sublicenses the right to publicly perform the work in the United States to Alpha Bet Company. Alpha Bet Company changes the script a bit in each town it performs to add some "local appeal" to their production (in Concord, they substitute the names of local law professors for the "real scientists" and substitute "legal terms" for "scientific terms"). Since I executed a valid public performance license with Union Jack, do I have any legal basis for preventing such changes by Alpha Bet? (yes or no answer and ONE SENTENCE explanation).





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28. I independently create a sculpture of a nativity scene and eventually sell it a local church. The church decides the sculpture is "too sterile", disassembles the characters in the sculpture and installs gears so that the arms, legs and heads of the sculpted characters depicted move to nativity music (circle one or more answers).

A. The church has violated my "public performance" rights.
B. The church can do anything they want after the "first sale" of the sculpture. I
C. The church can be made to remove my name from the placard next to the sculpture.
D. I can make the church change the music being played because the sculpture is now a joint work.

29. When a song is played on the radio (circle only one answer):

A. ASCAP collects royalties for the public performance of musical compositions.
B. ASCAP surveys the radio stations "play sheets" or listens to the radio station to determine what songs are being played so it can calculate who to give the collected royalties to.
C. ASCAP distributes the calculated royalty due to each performer on the record played based upon the calculations.
D. All of the above.
E. A and B only.

30. Which of the following are exempted under 110 (circle one or more answers):

A. A high school teacher conducts her class in the park where she reads portions from a copyrighted play out loud.
B. A high school teacher shows a video to her class.
C. A high school teach makes a slide of an art work and displays the slide in class.
D. All of the above
E. None of the above.

31. How is the "first publication" right different from the other 106 rights (ONE SENTENCE)?

32. When considering the "amount and substantiality" of infringement, the court will consider (circle only one answer):

A. The quantity of material taken.
B. The quality of material taken.
C. The quantity of material not taken.
D. The intended purpose of the taking.
E. A and B.
F. A and C.



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