Q4: Why does the film say "Copyright USC" at the end of the credits?

All films made using any University equipment connected with a class become property of USC. This is a very controversial issue, since a lot of students (me included) contribute huge amounts of personal funds into their film productions, as well as paying a pretty steep tuition (something like $7800 for this production class alone).

In the past, this wasn't any big deal. It didn't affect the student's ability to send the film to festivals or make copies for his personal use. And there really wasn't much of a market for short films. Now things have changed a bit, making things less clear. There is some market for short films, including DVD compilations, airline in-flight movies, foreign television, some domestic TV (sc-fi channel, IFC), and the internet. Remarkably, the university splits the revenues with the student (which it doesn't have to since it owns the copyright). They also provide complete legal assistance in signing distribution contracts and numerous connections to sales channels, so actually the chance of recovering some revenue is quite a bit more likely with the University's help.

Currently the USC festival office forbids the distribution of the film on the internet without permission of the festival office. This is the first time in history where USC has really exercised its copyright in the exhibition of the films. The festival office is actually very well tuned to the needs of students, and having the full length version on the internet can really destroy a film's festival chances and distribution chances, so I feel they are making the right decision here. Still, it's weird. In general, I feel the University's backing in supporting the film was worth losing the copyright for the short film.

For a strongly negative opinion about this, check this.