ContentCreatorRFQSampleContent.pdf

RFQ: Content Creator Sample Curriculum

DCPS middle school children will come to the courthouse and participate in one

STEM activity and one social studies during their visit. The STEM activity will take place in the Innovation Center and will be about a 45-minute session. Part of each session will be instructor-led on the 98” non-touch screen. Students will then group together at the (5) 55” interactive screens.

The sample provided is from our copyright learning experience. During this session, small groups of students will be at each interactive screen. They will participate in a 5-7 minute activity at this screen and then rotate until they have completed all five. Each screen will focus on a different copyright case. The accompanying video is a demonstration of one of these cases. It is a draft created within Intuiface. Each case will follow a similar format with informational content, videos and quizzes/games to test their knowledge. This is an example of the drafts that will be provided for each experience. In addition to the draft, an outline will be provided.

Video Sample: A video of the draft created in Intuiface can be found at:

https://youtu.be/6hZgJZi-F0I.

Please Note: The videos show as unavailable as of right now. We are getting the rights to those. This content has not been copyedited and represents a draft of the experience.

https://youtu.be/6hZgJZi-F0I

Outline of Ed Sheeran v. Ed Townsend Copyright Case:

Slide 1 (Intro Activity)

• Play short audio clip of Ed Sheeran’s song. (0:31 – 0:51)

• Who is the singer of this song? (add pictures?)

o Niall Horan o Shawn Mendes o Lewis Capaldi o Ed Sheeran

Slide 2 (Intro Activity)

• Play short audio clip of Marvin Gaye’s song. (0:02 – 0:22)

• Who is the singer of this song? (add pictures?)

o Stevie Wonder o Marvin Gaye o Frank Sinatra o Prince

Slide 3 (Ed Sheeran v. Ed Townsend)

• In 2016, the family of Ed Townsend (famous for writing songs with Marvin

Gaye) sued Ed Sheeran, alleging that Sheeran's 2014 song "Thinking Out

Loud" violated the copyright of Marvin Gaye's 1973 track "Let's Get It On."

The case focused on the similarity of chord progressions.

• Townsend’s family was seeking payment from Sheeran, believing that he had copied their father’s work.

• Artist Backgrounds o Ed Sheeran

▪ Ed Sheeran is a singer and songwriter from England. He was born on February 17, 1991, in Halifax, West Yorkshire. Sheeran learned to play guitar as a kid and started writing songs. His music is a mix of pop, folk, and acoustic styles. He became popular with songs like "Shape of You" and "Thinking Out

Loud," which won Grammy Awards. Sheeran is known for his red hair and wearing casual clothes on stage. Besides music, he is also involved in charity work and has appeared in movies and

TV shows.

o Marvin Gaye

▪ Same as the one Ola sent for the other.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lp-EO5I60KA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x6QZn9xiuOE

Slide 4

• Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z1YxFjQXbXg o Stop at 1:05

Slide 5

• What are chord progressions?

o Chord progressions are like building blocks for songs. They are a series of different chords played one after another. Chords are groups of notes that sound good together. Think of it like putting different Lego pieces in a row to make something cool – each chord adds to the music's feeling and emotion. Different progressions can make music sound happy, sad, or exciting.

Slide 6

• To prove that an artist violated a musical copyright, the other side has to show:

1. That they were the creator of the song, and that the song is original.

2. That they took all required legal steps to get the copyright.

3. That they own the copyright to the song in question.

4. That the person they are accusing performed the song publicly.

5. That the person they are accusing did not get permission to perform the song.

• In this case, we know that points 2,3, 4, and 5 are all true, and that

Townsend was one of the creators of the song. However, the issue in this case is whether the chord progressions in “Let’s Get It On” were original and whether Sheeran copied them in “Thinking Out Loud.”

Slide 7 (The Case for Infringement)

• The songs have similar chord progressions and rhythms, using chords like I, iii, IV, V7 in a repeating loop. This makes them sound alike. The second and fourth chords in each bar are syncopated, which means they come slightly before the beat.

• At a 2014 concert in Zurich, Switzerland, Sheeran played “Thinking Out

Loud” and transitioned the song into a performance of “Let’s Get It On,” which you saw in the video earlier. Lawyers for Townsend’s family argued that this showed the songs were very similar, and then Sheeran knew this.

Slide 8 (The Case Against Infringement)

• "Let's Get It On" is a relaxed soul song with saxophones, strings, piano, guitars, and harmonized backing vocals. "Thinking Out Loud" by Ed Sheeran https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z1YxFjQXbXg has a simpler production with piano, bass, and soft guitar. Sheeran sings solo with light harmony vocals joining later.

• On the witness stand, Sheeran showed how he often takes his songs and then transitions them into other songs, often suggested by the audience at his concerts. He called is a “musical party trick” and said that he did not only do it with “Let’s Get It On.”

• Sheeran argued that there was nothing unique about the chord progressions, saying “These chords are common building blocks which were used to create music long before ‘Let’s Get It On’ was written, and will be used to make music long after we’re gone. They are in a songwriter’s alphabet, our toolkit, and should be there for all of us to use. No one owns them or the way they are played, in the same way nobody owns the color blue.”

Slide 9

• Take one last listen before deciding the case.

• Video of mashup: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FR-AH9cIqV4 o Stop at 0:48

Slide 10

• Based on what you have read and listened to, do you think that Ed Sheeran is guilty of copyright infringement, meaning that he copied parts of Marvin

Gaye’s song when creating “Thinking Out Loud”?

Slide 11

• Jurors ultimately sided with Ed Sheeran, deciding that he did not copy parts of “Let’s Get It On,” written by Ed Townsend.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FR-AH9cIqV4