California State University, Northridge
Spring 2010
English 595CC: “Copyrights/Copywrongs”
Instructor: Dr. Ian Barnard (Web Page: http://www.csun.edu/~ib5991)
Office: ST 834
In-Person Office Hours: R 12:30-3:30 p.m., and by appointment
Email Office Hours: ian.barnard@csun.edu
Furlough Days for Ian Barnard: 2/17, 2/24, 3/10, 3/24, 4/1, 4/2, 4/3, 4/28, 5/5
Introduction:
Flyers/lectures/workshops/articles about plagiarism continue to inundate the CSUN
campus, academia as a whole, and US culture as a whole. Why this plagiarism panic?
Why are Los Angeles high school students suing turnitin.com? How do concerns about
intellectual property shape our understandings of authorship, intellectual collaboration,
and writing instruction? How are these understandings inflected by discourses of capital,
nation, gender, sexuality, disability, and celebrity? What does “originality” mean amidst
postmodern/postcolonial aesthetics and poststructuralist conceptions of subjectivity?
We’ll pursue these and other questions by engaging with a growing body of critical
writing on issues around copyright and plagiarism, as well as films, music videos, and
novels by artists who have been accused of plagiarism or have made fun of or otherwise
responded to such charges. You will have the opportunity to produce critical and creative
projects as part of your own work for the course. The course addresses issues around
intellectual property relevant to students in the rhet/comp, creative writing, and literature
tracks of the English M.A. program. Since the course topic crosses disciplines and
genres, it should also be of interest to graduate students in other disciplines.
Required Texts (except for Ouologuem, available at Matador Bookstore; texts
marked # are also on reserve in the Oviatt Library):
2
1) Acker, Kathy. Don Quixote: Which Was a Dream.
2) Howard, Rebecca Moore. Standing in the Shadows of Giants: Plagiarists, Authors,
Collaborators.
3) Leavitt, David. Arkansas.
4) Ouologuem, Yambo. Bound to Violence.#
5) Sherman, Brad, and Lionel Bently. The Making of Modern Intellectual Property
Law.#
6) Shirinyan, Ara. Syria is in the World.
7) Spigelman, Candace. Across Property Lines: Textual Ownership in Writing Groups.
8) Vaidhyanathan, Siva. Copyrights and Copywrongs: The Rise of Intellectual Property
and How it Threatens Creativity.#
In addition to the above texts, the required readings include articles that I will make
available on WebCT.
Course Requirements:
1) Close critical reading of all assigned texts, regular attendance, and vigorous
participation in class discussions
2) Seven WebCT Discussion Posts (#5 and #8, plus any five others)
3) One individual or collaborative oral presentation
4) Two projects.
WebCT Discussion Posts
Setting your email address:
Please note that WebCT email is sent to your official CSUN email address. If you wish
to receive it at another email address, you need to have your CSUN email forwarded to
that address.
Making a post:
1) On the CSUN home page click on “myNORTHRIDGE PORTAL” and then select
“WebCT”
2) Log onto WebCT and then select this class
3) Under the “Course Menu” select “Discussions”
(Note: You may use the “Main” WebCT discussion heading to discuss course concerns,
ideas, and texts at any time during the semester.)
Position Papers:
 may be informal, but should be thought-out and revised
 don’t have to be authoritative; may reflect your ambiguities, ask questions, or
identify problems you have with the text
 should aim for focus and specificity rather than superficiality and generality
 should not summarize the reading
 should be 1-2 pages each
Responses to Colleagues’ Position Papers/Responses:
 should be thoughtful and substantial
 each response should be at least a paragraph long
Oral Presentation (feel free to meet with me beforehand to discuss your presentation)
3
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about 30 minutes
must include an interactive component
shouldn’t just summarize what you have read
Projects
Complete two of the following four projects:
(a) Theoretical/Contextual: An 8-12 page paper treating one of more of the theoretical
and/or contextual texts (books by Sherman/Bentley and Vaidhyanathan; articles by
Foucault, Barthes, Kleege, Benfer, Lethem) and/or treating one or more issues we have
discussed in relation to these texts. Your paper should also engage with scholarly
secondary sources (see Resources on WebCT for suggestions). Follow MLA format in
citing sources and in your list of Works Cited.
(b) Literary/Cultural: An 8-12 page paper treating one or more of the literary/cultural
texts we have discussed (Superstar, Syria is in the World, “The Term Paper Artist,” Don
Quixote, Bound to Violence, “Vogue,” Jaffe poem) in the context of the issues addressed
in the course and/or treating the issues we have discussed in relation to these texts. Your
paper should also engage with scholarly secondary sources (see Resources on WebCT for
suggestions). Follow MLA format in citing sources and in your list of Works Cited.
(c) Pedagogical: An 8-12 page paper treating one or more of the pedagogical texts we
have discussed (books by Howard and Spigelman; articles by Clark, Anderson, Price)
and/or treating the issues we have discussed in relation to these texts. Your paper should
also engage with scholarly secondary sources (see Resources on WebCT for suggestions).
Follow MLA format in citing sources and in your list of Works Cited.
(d) Creative: A theoretically-informed and interesting work of “plagiarism” in any
medium or genre (e.g., a series of poems, a short story/fiction, a painting, a performance,
a web site, a zine, a comic, a critical essay, a video, a cd, a collection of photographs, a
memoir, a [screen]play, a video game, a text that defies/crosses/mixes genres/media).
“Theoretically-Informed”
Your project demonstrates an awareness of and engagement with the texts/issues we have
been discussing this semester (i.e., it’s not naive or uninformed plagiarism, but
“plagiarism” that is informed by intellectual property theory). Avoid gimmickiness for
its own sake: be ready to defend your choices (of content, form, etc.) as meaningful. Feel
free to see me to discuss your project.
One of your two projects may be collaborative; feel free to use material from your
WebCT posts in your projects.
Due dates for projects:
If you choose (d) as one of your projects, (d) is due on 5/7, and your other project is due
on 3/26; otherwise, your first project is due on 3/26 and your second project is due on
5/7.
4
Tentative Schedule
* = text(s) available on WebCT
Week 1, 1/22/10
 Introduction to course
 Discussion of faculty furlough program and its impact on the course
 Watch and discuss excerpt from Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story
 Reading and discussion of Benfer, “Writing in the Free World”
Email your three presentation preferences to me by 11:59 p.m. on 1/27
WebCT Discussion #1: Position Paper on Barthes and/or Foucault and/or Kleege
and/or Lethem due by 11:59 p.m. on 1/27; Responses to at least two colleagues’
Position Papers and/or Responses due by 11:59 p.m. on 1/28
Week 2, 1/29/10
 Reading due: * Barthes, “The Death of the Author”; * Foucault, “What is an
Author?”; * Kleege, “Letters to Helen”; * Lethem, “The Ecstasy of Influence: A
Plagiarism”
 Watch “Copyright in America” (NOW With Bill Moyers)
 Discuss presentations
Week 3, 2/5/10
 Presentation
 Reading due: Vaidhyanathan
WebCT Discussion #2: Position Paper on Acker due by 11:59 p.m. on 2/10;
Responses to at least two colleagues’ Position Papers and/or Responses due by 11:59
p.m. on 2/11
Week 4, 2/12/10
 Presentation
 Reading due: Acker
 Watch video: Kathy Acker interviewed by Angela McRobbie (40 minutes)
 Discuss Keefer, “The Rebellion of Art/The Art of Rebellion” (excerpt)
 Discuss projects
WebCT Discussion #3: Position Paper on Howard due by 11:59 p.m. on 2/17;
Responses to at least two colleagues’ Position Papers and/or Responses due by 11:59
p.m. on 2/18
Week 5, 2/19/10
 Presentation
 Reading due: Howard
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Discussion of CSUN plagiarism policies
Discussion of composition textbooks
Discussion of Brittenham and Hoeller, Key Words for Academic Writers
Week 6, 2/26/10
 Presentation
 Reading due: Leavitt, “The Term Paper Artist”; * Bleeth and Rivkin, “The
`Imitation David’: Plagiarism, Collaboration, and the Making of a Gay Literary
Tradition in David Leavitt’s `The Term Paper Artist’”
 Special guest: Amber Norwood
 Discussion of sample student papers
Week 7, 3/5/10
 2 Presentations
 Reading due: excerpts from Sherman and Bently
 Discuss first project
 Mid-semester evaluation of course
WebCT Discussion #4: Position Paper on assigned reading from Sherman and
Bently and/or legal cases/statutes due by 11:59 p.m. on 3/10; Responses to at least
two colleagues’ Position Papers due by 11:59 p.m. on 3/11
Week 8, 3/12/10
 Presentation
 Reading due: excerpts from Sherman and Bently; * selected legal cases/statutes
 Assign workshop groups for first project
 Discuss mid-semester evaluations
WebCT Discussion #5 (Required): Draft of your first project due by 11:59 p.m. on
3/17
Week 9, 3/19/10
 No class meeting; no office hours on 3/18
 Reading due: first project drafts
 Peer feedback on first project
 Work on first project
WebCT Discussion #6: Position Paper on Ouologuem due by 11:59 p.m. on 3/24;
Responses to at least two colleagues’ Position Papers and/or Responses due by 11:59
p.m. on 3/25
Post revision of first project on WebCT by noon on 3/26
Week 10, 3/26/10
 2 Presentations
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Reading due: Ouologuem
WebCT post #6 due
Discuss second project
Week 11, 4/2/10
 Furlough day for Ian Barnard; no office hours on 4/1
 Reading due: * Clark and Healy, “Are Writing Centers Ethical?”; * Price,
“Beyond `Gotcha!’: Situating Plagiarism in Policy and Pedagogy”; * Anderson,
“Response to Sean Zwagerman’s ‘The Scarlet P: Plagiarism, Panopticism, and the
Rhetoric of Academic Integrity”; * Lyon, “’You Fail’: Plagiarism, the Ownership
of Writing, and Transnational Conflicts”
 Special guest: Irene Clark
 Student-led discussions
Week 12, 4/16/10
 Presentation
 Reading due: Shirinyan
 Special guest: Ara Shirinyan
 Discussion of Jaffe, “War of the Words”
 In-class creative writing exercises
WebCT Discussion #7: Position Paper on Spigelman due by 11:59 p.m. on 4/21;
Responses to at least two colleagues’ Position Papers due by 11:59 p.m. on 4/22
Week 13, 4/23/10
 Presentation
 Reading due: Spigelman
 Discuss second project and assign workshop groups
WebCT Discussion #8 (Required): Draft or description/discussion of your second
project due by 11:59 p.m. on 4/28
Week 14, 4/30/10
 Presentation
 Reading due: * hooks, “Madonna: Plantation Mistress or Soul Sister?”; * second
project drafts/descriptions/discussions
 Watch and discuss Madonna’s “Vogue” music video
 Workshops on second project
If your second project is not a performance, post the final version on WebCT by
noon on 5/7
Week 15, 5/7/10
 Party and cabaret (second project performances / readings / presentations /
screenings)
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PRESENTATION TOPICS
1) Napster and the Music Industry
2) Kinkos Copyright Case
3) Bound to Violence Plagiarism Charges
4) Barbara Taylor Bradford
5) Term Paper Web Sites and Plagiarism Detection Software (turnitin.com, etc.)
6) Kaavya Viswanathan
7) Steven Ambrose Plagiarism Charges
8) Plagiarism case(s) of Winston L. Frost, Trinity Law School Dean (2001) and/or
Central Connecticut State University President (March 2004)
9) Intellectual Property Legal Discourse
10) Acknowledgments and Citations
11) AIDS Drug Patents in Africa
12) Copyright Infringement Charges Against Contemporary Musicians (e.g., Coldplay
sued by Joe Satriani for “Viva La Vida”).
13) The 2006 Second Life CopyBot scandal
14) J. D. Salinger’s 2009 lawsuit against Fredrik Colting
15) The Digital Millennium Copyright Act
16) David Leavitt plagiarism charges
17) Ward Churchill plagiarism charges
18) Other: __________________________________
Thanks to Aneil Rallin, Susi Mitchell, Lynne Cook, Barbara Kroll, Patrick O’Neill,
Andrea A. Lunsford, Drue Koons, Christian Larsen, Bruce M. Abrams, Marsha Duggan,
Carmen Ganser, Irene Clark, Anne Shea, Rick Bolton, Ara Shirinyan, Jenifer Fennell,
Amber Norwood, and Marcy Newman for ideas for and assistance with this syllabus.
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