10. Copyright and Post-Unit Reflection

10) Copyright and Post-Unit Reflections

OBJECTIVES

Students will reflect on their songwriting experience. Students will be introduced to the basics of the business side of songwriting. Students will apply their songwriting experience to a discussion about illegal downloading.

VOCABULARY

copyright, illegal downloading, publisher, royalty

PREPARATION

• Make copies of Copyright Laws and

Royalties Worksheet.

Ensure students have access to calculators.

STANDARDS CCSS.ELA-Literacy.CCRA.R.7

Integrate and evaluate content presented in diverse media and formats, including visually and quantitatively, as well as in words.

FREE WRITE (5 minutes)

BRAINSTORM (1 minute)

Prompt: In your journal, spend one minute writing down all the ways you listen to or download music.

ACTIVITY (35-40 minutes)

1. Ask students the following questions to initiate a discussion about their songwriting experience: • Did you enjoy your songwriting experience? Why or why not? • What, if anything, was difficult about the process? • What, if anything, surprised you about the process? • How did you feel when you completed your song? Proud? A sense of accomplishment?

Surprised at what you could create?

2. Explain to students that one way songwriters make their living is through earning a royalty . This is the part of the profit from music sales that is paid to writers to compensate them for their work. When music consumers download pirated songs for free that otherwise are for sale on legitimate websites, they deprive songwriters of their income.

Illegal downloading is the act of obtaining files from the Internet that one does not have the right or permission to use. A copyright gives songwriters legal protection when their work is illegally downloaded. With a copyright, creators have the legal right to use and distribute their original intellectual property, thus enabling compensation.

To protect profits, the music industry often files lawsuits to stop illegal downloads or collect payment from people who illegally download.

TEACHER TIP

Any song you write has automatic copyright protection. Others cannot legally copy, perform, or publish a song without the songwriter’s permission. A copyright is an automatic right upon creation; you do not need to register it (or mail it to yourself, etc.). Songwriters can mark their song lyrics with the copyright symbol (©) and include date of creation. For more information, see www.copyright.gov.

3. Ask students to discuss the following questions in groups of three or four: Do you think illegal downloading is a serious crime, or is it OK if you can get away with it? Why or why not?

Allow groups to share insights from their discussions with the class.

4. (optional) Explain that songwriters have several royalty income streams. They earn money in the following ways:

Mechanical royalty – Songwriters receive income when someone buys a recording of their song via digital download or on a CD, etc.

Performance royalty – Songwriters receive income when their song is played on the radio, streamed via an online music service (such as Apple Music, Pandora, Spotify, Rhapsody), heard in a public place (such as recorded music in a restaurant), or performed live at a concert.

Synchronization (synch) license – Songwriters receive income when someone uses their song in a movie, television show, or commercial.

5. Explain that illegal downloading threatens a songwriter’s revenue streams. The mechanical royalty is most endangered by illegal downloading. The current mechanical royalty rate for the songwriter’s share is 9.1 cents per song. Royalties are usually split evenly between the songwriter and the publisher . A publisher is a business person or a company that enters into an agreement with a songwriter and works to get the songs recorded by singers and used on television, in movies, or other media outlets. As part of their contract, the publisher and songwriter share the royalties earned by songs. The publisher may pay the songwriter a salary or advance on future song royalties.

When song royalties are split, the songwriter and publisher each receive 4.55 cents. If the song is written by two songwriters, each receives half the songwriter share, or 2.275 cents, and the publisher receives 4.55 cents.

TEACHER TIP

Students may be curious about how much recording artists are paid per song. They usually earn between 8% and 25% of the record sales. In other words, a song that sells for $1 would earn the artist between 8 cents and 25 cents.

6. Distribute the Copyright Laws and Royalties Worksheet. Students are encouraged to use their calculators, since the goal of the activity is to contribute to the discussion about illegal downloading, not to be a math lesson in itself.

You will have to provide the school’s enrollment number so students can make the required calculations for the first two questions.

7. Ask students to answer the following questions in their journals: Think about how hard you worked on your songs. Imagine you were to get paid every time someone buys your song, but many people are downloading it illegally instead of buying it. How would that make you feel? Does this change your opinion about illegal downloading? Why or why not?

If time allows, lead the class in a discussion of their answers.

INTERDISCIPLINARY CONNECTION OPPORTUNITY

The discussion of illegal downloading could be enhanced by collaborating with a math teacher. Math: multiplication, decimals, currency, fractions

8. Following the copyright and illegal downloading discussion, ask students to reflect on the lyric-writing process by answering the following questions in their journals: What did you learn about songwriting in this unit? The next time you write a song, what steps would you follow? How would you find a topic?

How would you get ideas? How would you organize your thoughts? What are the parts of a song you would need to include?

If time allows, ask students to share some of their answers with the class.

9. Assign students to write questions in their journals to ask the songwriter during the upcoming workshop.

Questions can be about lyric writing, playing an instrument, performing live, the music business, or other related topics. Students should bring their questions to the songwriter workshop. This assignment can be done in class or as homework.

POST-UNIT REFLECTION

After the songwriter workshop, use the following writing prompts to provide an opportunity for students to connect their songwriting experience and Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum visit (if applicable) to their own lives. Choose as many questions as you like, depending on time and student interest. Remind students to elaborate with supporting details.

1. Look back at the songs you wrote on the first day of this unit. Look how far you’ve come! What did you learn about songwriting through this experience? How have you grown as a songwriter?

2. Explain what you enjoyed or didn’t enjoy about your songwriting experience. Did you find it easy or challenging?

Would you ever consider songwriting as a career? Why or why not? What did you learn about yourself through this process? Do you think you will continue to write songs? Why or why not?

3. What was the most intriguing thing you learned or heard in the songwriter workshop?

4. If you also visited the museum, what songwriters did you learn about in the exhibits? Who was your favorite

Country Music Hall of Fame member? Why? What did you learn about country music songwriting in this process?

WORKSHEET Copyright Laws and Royalties

Name: ________________________________________________ Date: ________________________________

Songwriter royalty = $0.0455 per song.

If the whole school bought your song, how much money would you make?

If half the school bought your song and half the school downloaded it illegally, how much money would you make?

If ten people bought your song and the rest of the school downloaded it illegally, how much money would you make?

The Recording Industry Association of America reports that 63% of U.S. consumers illegally download music. How would you feel if more than half of the people who listened to your song had illegally downloaded it?