Case study on intellectual property rights
Case Studies. You will analyze nine case studies in the form of news commentaries, extra readings or current ethical issues. Your lowest single score will be dropped. I do not accept late assignments for any excuse, including computer problems. Case studies are posted on the course website each week on a Monday or a Wednesday and due one week later before class. Case studies are submitted online from any computer connected to the Internet. Note that I am particularly picky in how you use sources for your answers to case studies. I want your words. You may quote to illustrate a point, but you must make that point in your own words. Any quotes must be marked. Comments and your grade will be attached to your online submission, and you can view it from the website if you are logged on. Only you can see the grade and the feedback.
Answer the following questions.
Why does Lawrence Lessig say that the CTEA will make certain “no one can do to Disney what Disney did to the Brothers Grimm.”? You should probably include what Disney did the the Grimms.
Lessig talks about ‘fair use” (which we talked about in class) as well as “unregulated use.” What is the difference, and why does he think that unregulated use is important?
There are two schools of thought with respect to copyright. Mark Twain and others considered intellectual property to be a natural right. Eldritch Press and other critics of current copyright laws consider copyright to be a justifiable but necessarily limited violation of the First Amendment’s right of free speech. The Constitution’s Section 8, Clause 8 states, “the Congress shall have power . . . to promote the progress of science and useful arts, by securing for limited times to authors and inventors the exclusive right to their respective writings and discoveries.” Which view seems more compatible with this statement, including a discussion of both views? Support your argument.
Read Spider Robinson’s story Melancholy Elephants (written in 1983.) According to Robinson, why would perpetual copyright stifle creativity?
