Copyright Scavenger Hunt
Topic: Learn about rules for Fair Use of copyrighted materials for educators.
Activity: Answer questions related to the topic by completing the scavenger hunt activity.
Level of Thinking: Application, Analysis
This scavenger hunt is designed to help you find information about copyright laws. When you have completed the
activity, you will have learned some important guidelines for fair use of copyrighted materials as an educator.
Instructions: There are three hunts in this activity, each with questions to answer. Answers to the questions will be found
on the correlating website. Hunt through each site and collect the answers. Answers can be written on this worksheet.
When you have finished, check the answer key to score your work.
Hunt 1
Fair Use Guidelines
Visit University of Texas' Copyright Crash Course to answer the following questions regarding Fair Use:
1. Imagine that you are putting together a PowerPoint presentation for a conference that you'll be
presenting at. You decide that a particular slide needs background music. Why is it smarter to use
Beethoven's Fifth Symphony (1808) than Copland's Rodeo (1942)?
2. A teacher copies one page from a book for students to read and answer comprehension questions.
Is this allowable under Fair Use guidelines?
3. A teacher copies one page from a book for students to read and use as a writing prompt, telling
students to predict what happens next or how the character got to this point in his story. Is this
allowable under Fair Use guidelines?
4. What is a "transformative use" of a copyrighted work?
5. What percentage of a work is usable for transformative purposes?
Hunt 2
Avoiding Copyright Violation When Using Digital Media
Visit Vermont's Internet Safety Project's website VTISP.org to find answers to the following questions regarding Digital
Media and Copyright Violation:
1. Sometimes the owners of intellectual property will give advance permission for particular uses of their work. This
type of license is called ___________ ____________ and can be used legally as long as the original creator is
given credit.
2. According to Jon Morris at VTISP.org, "The best way for educators to avoid copyright issues is to have
students..." (finish the sentence).
3. Embedding someone else's video on your own site is illegal, even for educational purposes, but creating a link to
that same video as an educational tool is safe. Why does this distinction matter?
Hunt 3
Resources to Save Time and Trouble
There are several ways to find content that is available for use without having to worry about Copyright Infringement.
Visit Education Renegade to answer these final questions on Resources to avoid Copyright Infringement:
1. This site provides links to several Copyright-Free and Royalty-Free websites. Which of these may require the user
to credit the source?
2. Which resource credits itself with having a "Wayback Machine" that can be used to see what web pages looked
like way back when?