Deck 9: Ownership, Creativity and Innovation: Intellectual Property

Question 1

Discuss the Fair Use Doctrine. What are the four statutory factors used to determine if a use is fair?

Answer 1

Fair use was originally a common law doctrine developed by judges who recognized that the monopoly rights protected by copyright were not absolute. When a use did not injure the market for the original work and advanced a public purpose, such as education or further artistic innovation, it could be considered fair.
The four statutory factors are:
(1) the purpose and character of the use, including if it is of a commercial nature or for nonprofit educational purposes
(2) the nature of the copyrighted work
(3) the amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the work as a whole
(4) the effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work.

Question 2

What must a plaintiff prove to establish copyright infringement?

Answer 2

To establish copyright infringement a plaintiff must prove ownership by showing that the work as a whole is original and that she has complied with statutory formalities and that the defendant copied the plaintiff's work. To do this, the owner must establish that the alleged infringer had access to the copyrighted work and that the offending and copyrighted works are so similar that the court may infer there was actual copying. The plaintiff must then prove that the copying was so extensive that it rendered the offending and copyrighted works substantially similar.

Question 3

If an author owns a copyright to a non-fiction essay, then publishes that essay in an anthology of similar essays published by a major publishing company, the rights involved in this relationship would be referred to as ______.

A) collective work
B) public domain
C) collective bargaining
D) joint domain

Answer 3

A

Question 4

Give a brief description of the increased protection in U.S. Copyright laws starting in 1994 and using approximate dates.

Question 5

American copyright law creates a bundle of rights for the owner, including the right to reproduce, distribute, perform, display, or adapt the work.

Question 6

Give examples of improper ways to learning a trade secret under the Uniform Trade Secrets Act. Give an example of a way that is not considered improper or wrong.
Improper ways of learning a trade secret include theft, bribery, misrepresentation, breach or inducement of a breach of a duty to maintain secrecy, or espionage. Figuring out a recipe by taste trials, known as "reverse engineering", in not considered wrongful.

Question 7

In a lawsuit for copyright infringement, a defendant can avoid liability by successfully arguing _________, based on the notion that the free flow of ideas sometimes requires quoting or borrowing from a copyrighted work.

A) collective rights
B) misappropriation
C) unlimited use
D) fair use

Question 8

The difference between the Project Gutenberg (PG) and the Google book scanning project is:

A) The PG limits itself to the "classics"
B) The PG limits itself to only works in the public domain
C) Google only digitizes full documents but the PG digitizes key segments
D) The PG limits itself to "orphan" works - those with hard-to-find authors or owners.

Question 9

Discuss U.S. patent law. Give examples of items that can and cannot be patented.
U.S. patent law protects the rights of those who discover tools, machines, processes and other "novel, useful, and non-obvious" inventions. Recently patented items include Amazon.com's one-click internet checkout (business method) and a new type of hybrid corn.
The Supreme Court has held that "laws of nature, natural phenomena [or] abstract ideas" are not patent-eligible.
Once a U.S. patent is acquired, the inventor has a complete monopoly for 20 years. During that time, no one else may use or profit from the invention without permission.

Question 10

Discuss how intellectual property is different from other kinds of property.

Question 11

Debora Halbert asserts in her essay that:

A) women have benefited greatly from intellectual property laws.
B) intellectual property has historically benefited men more than women.
C) in the nineteenth century, writing poetry and novels enabled women to not only express themselves intellectually but to reap financial rewards as well.
D) when women knitted or quilted, they were reluctant to share their patterns with other women.

Question 12

Why was the Digital Millennium Copyright Act passed?

Question 13

Nike's swoosh, McDonald's arches, and the Xerox name are all identifiable trademarks. Which of the following laws protect(s) them?
I) Lanham Trademark Act of 1946
II) Federal Trademark Dilution Revision Act of 2006
III) Sonny Bono Act of 1998

A) I only
B) II only
C) I and II
D) II and III

Question 14

Once the copyright on a work has expired,

A) The owner can renew it for a new term
B) The work is in the public domain
C) The work becomes the property of the government
D) The work is considered no longer creative

Question 15

Trade secrets are registered just like trademarks.

Question 16

In order to obtain a patent under U.S. Patent Law, an inventor must have an invention that is
I) Not obvious
II) Unique
III) Useful
IV) Not a modification of any prior patents

A) I only
B) I and II
C) I, II and III
D) I, II, III and IV