Intellectual Property Law

Chapter 11 Discussion Questions

1. Anna, a singer and guitar player, plays various songs composed by Willie Nelson
and Dolly Parton at her local weekly farmers’ market. Have any copyright rights
been violated? Discuss.

2. You are a devoted fan of the Hunger Games trilogy and have decided to expand
the characters’ lives and create children for them and to describe their lives in the
future on your website entitled www.fanfiction.net. Have any copyright rights
been violated? Discuss.

3. Discuss whether the following acts are permissible or impermissible under
copyright law.

• Giving your paperback copy of Catcher in the Rye to another

• Setting up a business in your home to rent music CDs and various
software programs (such as Microsoft Office) to others

• Painting a reproduction of a famous 2002 painting
Impermissible. The copyright owner has the exclusive right to
reproduce the work and exclude others from doing so.

• Making copies of an interesting article about a book you are reading and
distributing them to your book group (of about 30 people)

• Singing the recently written religious song Believing in You at your
Sunday worship services

• Showing the movie Noah at your church hall

4. You have purchased a poster and a print of a piece of art (of which there are only
100 signed copies). May you draw a mustache on the female characters displayed
in these works? Discuss.

5. You have asked your neighbor, a talented singer, to sing Jason Mraz’s song I’m
Yours at a bridal shower you are hosting in your home. Have any copyright rights
been violated? Discuss.

6. Sid, the owner of a very small restaurant (about 2,000 square feet) wishes to bring
in his television so his patrons can watch the upcoming World Series.

a. May Sid do this without violating any copyright rights? Discuss.

b. Would your answer change if Sid charged admission for the event?
Discuss.