Intellectual Property Law

Chapter 9 Discussion Answers

1. Star Trek actor Leonard Nimoy (1931–2015) was the author of the
autobiographical book I am Spock, written in 1995. When does copyright
protection for this book end?
Copyright protection lasts for the author’s life plus 70 years. Thus
copyright protection will end in 2085.

2. Louisa May Alcott (1832–1888) was the author of the novel Little Women. May
you prepare a screenplay for a new film based on this novel? Discuss.
Yes. Even under the present, very generous period of duration of
copyright law, protection for the work has expired and it has fallen
into the public domain. Thus, anyone may use the work, prepare a
derivative work based on it, etc.

3. Michelle Obama has been keeping a journal of her activities and thoughts about
her years in the White House. At present she has no plans to publish any book
based on these musings. Is the work protectable under copyright law? Discuss.
Yes. The work is protectable under copyright law as soon as it is
created in fixed form (when Ms. Obama wrote the words in her
journal). No registration with or permission from the Copyright
Office is needed to protect the work.

4. Your cousin is a musician. You recently discovered some hastily scribbled song
lyrics written by him on a piece of scratch paper. Is the work protectable under
copyright law?
Yes. Once again, the work is protected as soon as it is written on the
scratch paper. The fact that the work is written on scratch paper is of
no importance. It exists in tangible form and is thus protectable.

5. Describe the balance that must be reached between giving artists and authors the
right to exploit their creative works and the right of the public to have access to
these works.
Creators of works must be given a certain period of time/monopoly so
they can exploit their works and earn revenue on their works.
However, they should not be allowed exclusive rights in perpetuity. The
public should have access to the work at some time. Thus, the balance
of copyright law is to give copyright authors a limited period of time
(generally, life of the author plus 70 years) to exploit the work, and then
the work falls into the public domain so that it is free for all to use.