Instructions
Hank writes a book on business writing called Writing Right: Business Writing 101. It is a 10-chapter book, and each chapter is 20 pages in length. The book is a new release and an instant New York Times best seller. The dust jacket of the book claims: “An essential buy for anyone working in the corporate environment – Hank is a master at providing you with the tools for self-training. Your boss will see instant change in your writing style.” An accompanying CD-Rom includes a 30-minute lecture in which Hank discusses writing style and knowing your audience.
Min is a manager at a 100-person firm that provides business consultation to outside companies. Dismayed at the poor writing skills her employees use when communicating with clients, Min decides to hold an in-house professional development seminar on writing. In preparation, she reads Hank’s book and two others on the topic. She photocopies three chapters from Hank’s book that she found particularly helpful. She creates a cover page that states the author, title, and publisher of the book and binds it to the three copied chapters with a single staple. She does not alter the work in any other way.
Prior to the seminar, she provides the packet to each employee with the instructions: “Please read and be prepared to discuss for Friday’s writing workshop.” During the seminars, she plays the entire lecture by Hank on a television in the conference room.
Min wants to ensure that her presentation does not violate any intellectual property laws. She asks you to prepare a brief presentation that outlines the applicable law, evaluates her current practices under that law, considers alternatives, and makes a recommendation regarding whether she can continue to use the materials and, if so, in what fashion. She also wants to know if she can copyright her presentation and what she needs to do if she elects to do so.
The paper should be 750-1250 words, in APA format, and include at least two references beyond the text, preferably peer-reviewed.
Case Rubric
| Assessment Criteria | Exceeds Expectations 5 | Meets Expectations 4 3 | Does Not Meet Expectations 2 1 | Does Not Address 0 |
| Content | Presentation demonstrates deep and thorough research of all applicable copyright law, including statutes and relevant cases. | Presentation demonstrates that sound research was conducted to uncover all key copyright cases and statutes. | Research was conducted, but it was not on point or missed key statutes and keys. | No evidence that appropriate research was conducted. |
| Demonstrates a deep, thorough, and clear understanding of how intellectual property law applies to the case given, what constitutes copyrightable material, and how protection can be obtained. | Demonstrates a good understanding of intellectual property law as it applies to the case, what constitutes copyrightable material, and how protection can be obtained. | Paper contained major errors in the application of intellectual property law to the case given or demonstrates a flawed conception of what constitutes copyrightable material and/or how to obtain protection. | Paper did not include an application of intellectual property law to the case given and no discussion of obtaining copyright was included. | |
| Presentation demonstrates full grasp and command of how Fair Use operates. | Presentation demonstrates good understanding of how Fair Use operates. | Paper contained major errors or misunderstanding about how Fair Use operates. | Fair Use was not addressed. | |
| The presentations suggests multiple, viable alternatives that are clear, thorough, and in full compliance with business objectives and copyright law. | The presentations suggests viable alternatives that would comply with copyright law and will generally fulfill business objectives | Alternatives are suggested but the fail to meet business objectives and/or comply with copyright law. | No alternative were suggested | |
| Ultimate recommendation is clear, wise, and detailed, showing high-level understanding of the legal and business stakes. | Ultimate recommendation is sound and shows a good understanding of the legal and business stakes. | The ultimate recommendation fails to address key legal or business stakes. | No recommendation was made. | |
| Paper meets required length. More than two references are cited, and the references go beyond what is obvious in the course materials. | Paper meets required length. One or two references are included, but no effort was made to find less obvious references. | Paper does not meet required length, or only one reference is cited, or references are inappropriate or incorrect. | Paper does not meet required length and there are no supporting references. | |
| Quality of Writing | Writing and organization is consistently of outstanding quality. Flawless presentation. No spelling, grammar, or punctuation errors. Assignment is completely in APA format. | Good writing and organization of paper. Minimal spelling, grammatical, and/or punctuation errors. Good use of APA format. | Writing and/or organization of paper needs improvement. The frequency of spelling, grammatical, and/or punctuation errors is distracting to the reader. Infrequent use of APA format and style. | The frequency of spelling, grammatical, and/or punctuation errors makes the paper incomprehensible. No use of APA format. |
| Overall Effort | Written work clearly demonstrates exemplary effort and shows significant initiative, creativity, and original thought. | Written work demonstrates adequate effort and is complete, thorough, and reflects original thought. | Written work demonstrates little effort or is consistently incomplete or shallow. | Written work demonstrates no effort. |
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