Materials and Preparation

• Preview the video “Nicole’s Story – Copyrighting Creative Work,” and prepare to show it to students.

• Copy the 411 for Creators Student Handout and The Truth About Happy Birthday Student Handout for all students. If using audiovisual recording for “The Truth about ‘Happy Birthday” activity, get the technology ready.

• Review the Respecting Creative Work Teacher Backgrounder and the 411 for Creators Student Handout – Teacher Version.

• If completing the Extension Activity, copy and distribute the Copyright Detectives Student Handout to all students. Review the Copyright Detectives Student Handout – Teacher Version for guidance.

Essential Question

What rights do you have as a creator?

Lesson Overview

Students are introduced to copyright, fair use, and the rights they have as creators. Students first watch a video of a young writer who talks about posting and protecting her original work online. Students then learn key vocabulary terms that will help them conceptualize issues surrounding creative work and copyright. Finally, students explore the copyright history of the “Happy Birthday” song and create an original happy birthday song of their own.

Learning Objectives

Students will be able to ...

• understand that copyright is a legal system that protects their rights to creative work.

• compare different ways people license their copyrighted work.

• create an original song, perform it in front of the class, and reflect on their copyright for the song.

Key Vocabulary

creative work: any idea or artistic creation that is recorded in some form, whether it’s hard copy or digital

copyright: a law that protects your control over the creative work you make so that people must get your permission before they copy, share, or perform your work

Creative Commons: a kind of copyright that makes it easier for people to copy, share, and build on your creative work, as long as they give you credit for it

license: a clear way to define the copyright of your creative work so people know how it can be used

Warm-up (5 minutes)

ASK: What is something you’ve made that you’re proud of?

Can you think of a time when you used someone else’s work in something you created?

Learn About Copyright (5 minutes)

POINT OUT to students that they are all creators. Ask them to think about times they recorded an idea they had – whether they wrote something down, uploaded it onto the Internet, took a picture or video, or made something for class. Now ask them to think about a time when they’ve used things online that others have created, such as copying or downloading something from the Internet. Tell students that they will watch a video about a real girl who is a writer and shares her writing online. S

HOW students the “Nicole’s Story – Copyrighting Creative Work” video.

ASK: Why does Nicole want to share her writing online? What are the benefits for her?

What are the risks of Nicole sharing her writing online?

Introduce Key Vocabulary for Creators (15 minutes)

REMIND students that once someone records an original idea, it is copyrighted. Copyright is an important law that helps protect the rights of creators so they receive credit and get paid for their work. Most things you find, download, copy, and paste from the Internet are copyrighted.

• You can use things you find online as long as you:

»check who created it

»get permission to use it

»give credit to the creator

»buy it (if necessary)

»use it responsibly

• If you aren’t careful in how you use other people’s work online, you might be stealing. (Students will learn the concept of stealing with terms like piracy and plagiarism in Teach 2.)

• It’s great to be able to use things we find online, but we have to do it responsibly. We have to show our respect for other people’s hard work and creativity by giving credit where credit is due.

DIVIDE students into groups of four or five and hand out copies of the 411 for Creators Student Handout to each student. Review the Teacher Backgrounder for more information about the vocabulary, and review the 411 for Creators Student Handout – Teacher Version for the answers.

REVIEW the vocabulary terms on the handout as a class. Have one student from each group take turns reading each definition aloud. Provide additional background information from the Teacher Backgrounder, if preferred. SHARE answers to the fill-in-the-blank section on the student handout. Have students explain the correct answers.

REMIND students that these terms are important for creators to know so that they can:

• protect their own creative work

• follow the rules of copyright law

• be respectful of how they use other people’s work

Copyright and Songs (15 minutes)

ASK: What is a song that we all have sung at one point in our lives?

DISTRIBUTE the The Truth About “Happy Birthday” Student Handout to all students (still keeping them in groups) and have them read the directions and complete the activity.

Students can use a high- or low-tech option:

• Low-tech: Students write down the lyrics and perform (sing) the song in front of the class.

• High-tech: Students write down the lyrics and record their song in audio or video using GarageBand or another audiovisual-creation tool. Play the recordings in front of the class. After students have completed and performed their song, have students complete Step 2 of the handout by thinking about how they would want others to be able to use their song.

INVITE students to share how they are willing to let others use their work. Will they let others copy, share, perform, change, or sell it? Students can also complete the “Use Common Sense!” final step by choosing a Creative Commons license for their song. (They will need Internet access for this activity.)

Wrap-up (5 minutes)

You can use these questions to assess your students’ understanding of the lesson objectives. You may want to ask students to reflect in writing on one of the questions, using a journal or an online blog/wiki.

ASK: Why is it important to give credit when using other people’s creative work?

Why can’t you directly copy information from an online source, such as Wikipedia?

Why do you seldom hear “Happy Birthday to You” sung on a TV show or in a movie?