Chapter 28 Exercises: Intellectual Property for Creators

Exercise 1: The IP Audit (Individual or Pair)

Time: 45–60 minutes Materials: Access to your own social media channel or a public creator's channel

Select a creator channel you either own or have access to analyze. Choose any 5 published pieces of content (videos, posts, podcast episodes). For each piece, complete the following table:

After completing the audit:

1. Which elements represented the highest legal risk? Why?
2. What would the creator need to do to bring each high-risk element into compliance?
3. If you audited your own content, what one immediate change will you make to reduce IP risk?

Write a 200-word summary of your findings and recommended changes.

Exercise 2: The Four-Factor Fair Use Analysis

Time: 30–40 minutes

Read each of the following scenarios and apply the four-factor fair use test. For each factor, write 2–3 sentences assessing whether it supports or undermines fair use. Then give an overall assessment: "Likely fair use," "Likely not fair use," or "Genuinely unclear."

Scenario A: A political commentary YouTuber uses a 45-second clip from a recent presidential debate (broadcast on a major TV network) to critique a candidate's statement. The video is monetized through YouTube's ad system. The clip is the entire basis for a 12-minute commentary video.

Scenario B: A music reaction channel watches and reacts to a full 3-minute music video on-screen, then posts the reaction to YouTube. Their reactions last about 90 seconds. The original video is visible in the background for the entire 3 minutes.

Scenario C: An indie filmmaker creates a parody video that mimics the visual style, music, and dialogue of a famous scene from Titanic to make a joke about modern online dating. The parody is 4 minutes long; the original scene is about 6 minutes.

Scenario D: An educational social media account for college students uses 20-second clips from three different news broadcasts (ABC, CNN, Fox News) to compare how different networks covered the same story. The content is free to view; the creator makes money through Patreon.

For each scenario, write 150–200 words analyzing all four factors.

Exercise 3: Music Licensing Decision Matrix

Time: 20–30 minutes

You are planning four separate pieces of content. For each one, identify the best music licensing approach and justify your choice.

Content 1: A weekly vlog posted to YouTube and reposted to Instagram Reels. You want background music throughout. Budget: $15/month.

Content 2: A 5-minute brand deal video for a major fashion brand. The video will be posted on your channel AND repurposed by the brand for their paid Instagram ads. Budget: $200–$500 for music.

Content 3: A documentary-style short film about your neighborhood that you plan to submit to film festivals and eventually post publicly for free. Runtime: 18 minutes. Budget: $300–$500 for music.

Content 4: A TikTok series using trending audio. You want to use the specific viral sound everyone is using. Budget: $0.

For each content piece: 1. Which licensing approach do you recommend? 2. What service or method would you use? 3. What are the limitations of your chosen approach? 4. What's the estimated cost?

Exercise 4: Contract Clause Negotiation Simulation (Pair Exercise)

Time: 40–50 minutes

With a partner, take turns playing the role of the creator and the brand representative. The brand is offering a $3,000 sponsored post deal. The current contract contains these clauses you need to negotiate:

Clause A: "All content created under this Agreement shall be a work made for hire and the exclusive property of Brand."

Clause B: "Creator grants Brand an irrevocable, perpetual, worldwide, royalty-free license to use the content in any medium for any purpose."

Clause C: "Creator shall not create content for any brand in the fashion industry for a period of 24 months following this Agreement."

Clause D: "Payment shall be remitted within 90 days of content approval."

For each clause: 1. What is the clause actually saying (plain language)? 2. Why is it problematic for the creator? 3. What counter-proposal would you make? 4. If the brand won't budge, what's your walkaway point?

After the role-play, each person writes a 150-word reflection on what was hardest about negotiating and what strategy worked best.

Exercise 5: Creative Commons License Selector

Time: 20 minutes

You are helping four different creators choose a Creative Commons license for their work. Read each situation and recommend the appropriate CC license (CC BY, CC BY-SA, CC BY-NC, CC BY-NC-SA, CC BY-ND, CC BY-NC-ND, or CC0). Justify your recommendation in 2–3 sentences.

Creator 1 — Dr. Keisha Freeman, biology professor: Wants to share her course materials openly so other teachers can use and build on them for free, but does not want commercial publishers to sell her materials.

Creator 2 — Photographerkai.com: A photographer who wants her images to be shared freely for any purpose, including commercial, as long as she's credited. She doesn't mind if people modify them.

Creator 3 — Marcus Webb: Has written a free financial guide that he wants to distribute widely. He's okay with anyone sharing it in its original form but doesn't want others to make modified versions that might contain bad advice.

Creator 4 — The Meridian Collective: Has created a series of tutorial videos for a gaming technique they developed. They want to release them to the public entirely without any restrictions — they just want the knowledge out there.

Exercise 6: Copyright Registration Walkthrough

Time: 30–45 minutes (may require access to copyright.gov)

This exercise walks you through the actual copyright registration process so you understand it when you're ready to use it.

Part A — Research: Visit copyright.gov and navigate to the eCO (electronic copyright office) registration system. Without creating an account or submitting anything, explore the following: 1. What types of works can be registered online? 2. What are the current filing fees for a single work registration? 3. What information do you need to submit a registration? 4. How long does the registration process typically take?

Write a 150-word description of your findings.

Part B — Planning: If you were registering your most valuable piece of existing content today, answer: 1. What work would you register? 2. What type of work is it (literary, audiovisual, musical, etc.)? 3. When was it first published, and where? 4. Are you the sole copyright holder, or were there collaborators whose rights need to be addressed? 5. Would you register it as part of a collection, or individually?

Part C — Reflection: Write 100 words on why you have or haven't registered any of your content before, and what would change your behavior going forward.

Exercise 7: The Licensing Pitch

Time: 30–40 minutes

Identify two pieces of your existing content (or a creator you follow) that have potential licensing value. These might be: - High-quality photography or video footage - A well-written article or guide - A tutorial that an educational organization might use - Original music or audio

For each piece: 1. Describe the content and why it has licensing value 2. Identify three potential licensees (who would want to use this and why?) 3. Draft a 100-word licensing pitch email to one of those potential licensees 4. Propose licensing terms: what type of license (exclusive/non-exclusive, commercial/educational, time-limited?), for what use, and for what price?

Your pitch should be professional but accessible — write as if you're sending a real email today.