Assignment task:
Add insight and a question to discussion following prompt
Prompt (the following is a fictional prompt): Alicia has decided to start a new career in writing novels. She decides to write a novel about wizards and ghosts, which she will call "Young Wizards and Ghosts." She copies a lot of wording from the Harry Potter novels which re written by J.K. Rowling. Under what circumstances might Alicia be allowed to copy the wording of the Harry Potter novels for use in her own novel, "Young Wizards and Ghosts" without risking a lawsuit from J.K. Rowling? Or are there NO circumstances under which she can copy the wording? Explain using terms learned in the assigned reading.
Discussion:
Using wording or taking inspiration from Harry Potter runs a risk of copyright infringement. IT runs a fine line on copyright infringement no matter the usage. But there are ways that she would be able to possibly use wording. First, if any elements of Harry Potter are part of public domain she may be able to use it. But this is unlikely that any of J.K. Rowling's work to be under public domain. The other way is fair use. Fair use allows limited use of copyrighted material without permission, for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, or research. If Alicia's wording qualifies as fair use, she may be allowed to use it without facing a lawsuit. These two ways are ways that should could possibly use wording from Harry Potter in her novels.