The Copyright Quiz

In 1966 C. Delroy Hayes writes "While the Emperor Slept." The story chronicled the life of two noble families, the Decii and the Aemilii, during the Third Century Crisis of Rome, starting with the ascension of Maximinus Thrax in 235. Quintus Decius begins as a lowly bureaucrat; Sextus Aemilius as a tribune of the cavalry. Over the course of the novel the men rise in rank, marry, and have children. Sextus Aemilius is killed at the orders of Balbinus; his wife and children become secret Christians. Quintus embezzles a great deal of money and retires. His son Gaius becomes a member of the peregrini. Gaius falls in love with Sextus' daughter Aemilia, but at the end of the book is forced to kill her when he discovers her faith.

On March 12, 1967 Delroy sold the novel to Ancient Books Publishing, Ltd. The contract he signed transferred the copyright to "While the Emperor Slept" to Ancient Books and he further agreed to renew the copyright and transfer the renewed copyright to Ancient Books. The book was published on March 15, 1968, and Delroy properly registered the copyright two days later.

The book was an instant best seller and attracted the attention of the Wolf Pictures Corporation. On December 7, 1968 Ancient Books signed a contract with Wolf granting Wolf exclusive motion picture rights in "While the Emperor Slept" in perpetuity. The contract also granted Wolf the right to produce sequels, prequels, and remakes based on the original novel.

Wolf Pictures completed a film based on the novel in 1970, and released it to theaters under the title "Roman Rampage!" on June 3. Norwegian Actor Harrold Longcomplexname starred as Gaius Decius. Wolf registered the copyright with the Copyright Office the following day.

C. Delroy Hayes died in 1987. He was survived by his widow Helen Hayes.

They had no children. Helen forgot to file a renewal registration for the novel with the Copyright Office.

Wolf Pictures renewed the copyright to "Roman Rampage!" in 1998.

On May 20, 2005, Bob Robertson, using the screen name "AAAARGH Romulus," posts several images he captured from the DVD he owns of "Roman Rampage!" on a history-based website, HistorySites LLC, as part of a review of the movie. He also uses those images to decorate his personal webpage, using server space he purchased from HistorySites, and uses an image of "Gaius Decius" from the movie as a personal avatar.

Author Decius Aemilius

1. Which of the following statements is True?
   A)  All of Bob’s acts violated the copyrights of Wolf and Ancient Books.
   B)  None of Bob’s acts violated the copyrights of Wolf and Ancient Books.
   C)  HistorySites is immediately liable for the copyright violation, if they have editing control over the message board Bob posted on.
   D)  Bob’s use of copyrighted material as part of a critical review is an allowable Fair Use.
   E) Bob’s use of copyrighted material on his personal web page is an allowable Fair Use, provided the number of hits his website receives is de minimis.

2. Assume Harrold Longcomplexname is browsing the internet and discovers Bob using a photo still of Harrold as “Gaius Decius” for an avatar.
   A)  Harrold can successfully sue Bob and HistorySites for copyright violation.
   B)  Harrold might have a cause of action for trademark violation, but has no standing to sue in copyright.
   C)  Under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act HistorySites has no liability for copyright violations posted onto a server it owns, whether or not it has actual notice of the violation.
   D)  Under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act HistorySites is fully liable for copyright violations posted onto a server it owns, whether or not it has actual notice of the violation.
   E) If Harrold tells a HistorySites administrator of the violation over an instant messenger, this is sufficient legal notice to HistorySites of a copyright violation.

3. Which of the following statements is True?
   A)  If Bob digitally edits a still from the movie to change the background, this is an allowable derivative work.
   B)  If Bob puts up a hand-drawn copy of a movie still, this is a derivative work that violates the copyright of Wolf Pictures.
   C)  If Bob digitally edits a movie poster in order to parody local political events in his hometown, this is an allowable Fair Use.
   D)  If Bob digitally edits a movie poster in order to parody local political events in his hometown, this is not an allowable Fair Use.
   E) Bob’s parody is only an allowable Fair Use if it is genuinely humorous.

4. Carol, who has never seen nor heard of the novel “While the Emperor Slept” or the movie “Roman Rampage!”, posts at HistorySites a short story very similar to the plot of the movie, including characters with the same names as those in the movie.
   A)  Carol’s story violates Ancient Book’s copyright in the novel because the plot of the novel is protected by copyright.
   B)  Carol’s story is protected by a copyright owned by Carol, and does not violate Ancient Book’s copyright because ideas cannot be copyrighted.
   C)  If Ancient Books uses a representation of “Gaius Aemilius” on all their books as the insignia of their company, her use of a similar character of that name violates the publisher’s trademark but not their copyright.
   D)  A and C.
   E) B and C.

5. Bob and Carol create a group to discuss C. Delroy Hayes’ novel and the movie adaptation. Bob uses a movie still on the group’s main page.
   A)  The existence of this group violates copyright law.
   B)  The use of the image violates copyright law.
   C)  HistorySites must immediately delete the group if Harrold Longcomplexname complains to a Site Administrator about the violation.
   D)  All of the above.
   E) None of the above.

6. Bob lives in the European nation of Erewhon. HistorySites LLC is an American company registered in Delaware and with its central business office in New York City. Under Erewhonese law the copyright of a work expired with the death of the author. Wolf Pictures never registered “Roman Rampage!” according to the forms required by Erewhon’s Copyright Office. Erewhon joined as a full member of the European Union in 2004, and became a signatory of the Berne Convention at that time.
   A)  Bob can post sections from either the novel or the movie because in Erewhon both are in the public domain.
   B)  The Berne Convention states that works in the public domain under local laws remain in the public domain in that country, even if the work remains protected elsewhere.
   C)  Although Bob can post without violating copyright in Erewhon, HistorySites would be liable for Bob’s act because both novel and movie are still protected under US law.
   D)  Bob’s acts violate copyright law because the Berne Convention reinstates copyright protection for works that might otherwise have expired locally.
   E) The Berne Convention protects the novel but does not apply to motion pictures.

7. Bob downloads some graphics off the internet and uses them as factual sources to make his own maps of the Roman Empire, which he puts up on his HistorySites homepage. He also downloads some graphics to use as inspiration to create his own designs for replica weapons, which he manufactures himself on his personal forge.
   A)  The maps are an impermissible derivative work because they use copyrighted material without permission.
   B)  The maps are a permissible derivative work because Bob is creating the maps himself and selecting what to include and exclude.
   C)  Bob’s creating copies of copyrighted images for the purpose of creating weapon designs is a copyright violation, but if he only used the copies for his own purposes and did not distribute them, this would probably be held a de minimis usage.
   D)  B and C.
   E) A and C.

8. Harrold Longcomplexname is elected Governor of the state of Westcoast, and directs the state attorney general to prosecute Bob and HistorySites for copyright violation.
   A)  Bob can be sentenced to up to five years in jail if convicted.
   B)  Bob can be sentenced to up to one year in prison and up to a $500,000 fine if convicted.
   C)  The prosecutor can’t act because copyright violation is a federal crime.
   D)  The prosecutor can’t act because Westcoast lacks personal jurisdiction over the defendants unless they are physically in the state.
   E) The prosecutor can’t act because this act of copyright violation isn’t a crime, as long as the value of the infringed work is under $1000.00.

9. This quiz is copyrightable.
   A)  True
   B)  False

10. This sentence is copyrightable.
   A)  True
   B)  False