Introduction to Computers
Copyright Scenarios for
Discussion
Once students have read the article in the lesson plan, discuss these real life examples of copyright issues.
Scenarios For Discussion
Donald Trump has tried to copyright the phrase “You’re Fired!!”, the phrase that he uses on his TV show The
Apprentice. Can he copyright this phrase, making people pay him every time that they use it? Why or why not?
The cable channel TNN attempted to change its name to Spike TV, several years ago, because he claimed that it
was his name and that people might think that he is associated with the channel. Movie director Spike Lee sued
the cable channel for illegally using his name. Do you think that he won or lost his suit? Why or why not?
In 2008, John McCain and Sarah Palin were running for the presidency and vice presidency of the US. Mrs.
Palin’s nickname in high school was Sarah Barracuda, and that nickname followed her into her political career
for being a tough woman and governor. While on the campaign trail, the pair held rallies in several professional
basketball stadiums. Many stadiums had purchased a song list from various recording companies so that they
could play music could be played within the stadiums at a variety of events. One of the songs was Barracuda,
by the band Heart. While at the stadium, campaign organizers used this song to introduce Sarah “Barracuda”
Palin. When the band found out about this, they attempted to prevent the use of their song for a candidate that
they did not endorse, as they were loyal Obama supporters. What do you think was the outcome?
In the late 1990’s, the website napster.com was sued by several musicians for allowing website users to upload
music to Napster’s server, whereby other people were able to download the music to their own computers.
Other sites such as Kazaa and Limewire have created peer to peer technology, which allows users to connect to
one another and transfer files, including music and videos. Why do you think that Napster was found guilty of
copyright infringement, yet, these other peer to peer sites are allowed to continue?
Several years ago, Michael Jackson and Paul McCartney were collaborating on several songs and became good
friends. Paul told Michael that it was a good idea to invest in music rights, which basically means that you can
buy the copyright for a song and then license that song for use in TV commercials, movies, and that you
received royalties every time that the song was used. Several years before this, John Lennon and Paul
McCartney had sold the rights to several of their most popular songs, and they were bought by another person.
When these songs came up for sale again, Paul McCartney attempted to buy the rights back, but was
unfortunately outbid by….Michael Jackson. Since Paul McCartney was the original owner of the copyright,
what was the outcome?