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WorksheetsCopyright and Fair Use Recap
Total questions: 40
Worksheet time: 20mins
Creations of the mind that you can own but cannot physically touch, such as stories, photos, and songs, are broadly known as:
Public Domain
Fair Use
Intellectual Property
Tangible Assets
The automatic legal right that gives a creator of an original work exclusive control over how it is used and distributed is called:
Copyright
A Patent
A Trademark
An Idea Claim
The single most important rule to remember when determining if something can be copyrighted is:
You can copyright an idea, but not its expression.
You can copyright the expression of an idea, but not the idea itself.
You can only copyright things that are profitable.
You can only copyright things that are registered with the government.
When a creative work's copyright expires (typically 70 years after the author's death), it enters the (a) , making it free for anyone to use for any purpose.
A system where creators give the public permission to use their works for free under certain conditions (like giving credit) is called:
Open Source
Public Domain
Creative Commons
Copyright Free
The safest and most legally sound way for a student journalist to get a photo for their news story is to:
Screenshot it from a celebrity's Instagram page.
Find it on Google Images.
Take the photo themselves.
Use a photo from a friend's social media account.
The most common and important condition for using almost any Creative Commons licensed work is:
Paying the creator a small fee.
Giving proper credit (attribution) to the creator.
Emailing the creator to ask for permission.
Using the work for non-commercial purposes only.
Works created by the U.S. federal government, such as photos from NASA or presidential speeches, are automatically:
Protected by government copyright for 100 years.
Available only through a formal request.
In the public domain and free to use.
Licensed under Creative Commons.
A work is considered "fixed in a tangible medium" when it is:
Just an idea in your head.
Written down, recorded, or saved to a computer.
Performed live one time.
Discussed with a friend.
The legal doctrine that allows for the limited use of copyrighted material without permission for purposes like news reporting, criticism, and education is known as:
Public Domain
Fair Use
Creative Commons
Intellectual Exemption
Which of the Four Factors of Fair Use is often considered the most important?
Purpose and Character of the Use
Nature of the Copyrighted Work
Amount and Substantiality of the Portion Used
Effect of the Use on the Potential Market
It is generally easier to claim fair use when the original work is:
Highly creative, like a movie or song.
Factual, like a news article or scientific study.
Unpublished.
Extremely popular.
Which of the four factors considers whether you used a small, necessary clip of a movie versus uploading the entire film?
Purpose and Character of the Use
Nature of the Copyrighted Work
Amount and Substantiality of the Portion Used
Effect of the Use on the Potential Market
A student journalist takes a screenshot of a politician's tweet to use in an article fact-checking the politician's claim. This is a classic example of:
Copyright infringement.
Fair Use.
Public Domain.
A Creative Commons use.
Using a popular, copyrighted song as background music for a school spirit video is likely NOT a fair use because:
The purpose is not transformative.
It uses the entire creative work.
It could harm the market for licensing the song.
All of the above.
Giving credit to the original creator of a work is ethically good, but does it automatically make your use of that work a "fair use"?
Yes, giving credit is all that's required.
No, attribution is not one of the four legal factors.
Only if you also get permission.
Yes, as long as it's for an educational project.
A photograph you took of the Angleton water tower.
Copyrightable
Not Copyrightable
The fact that Angleton, TX is the county seat of Brazoria County.
Copyrightable
Not Copyrightable
An idea you have for a new social media app.
Copyrightable
Not Copyrightable
The complete, 300-page script for a new movie you wrote.
Copyrightable
Not Copyrightable
The title of your movie, "Wildcat Warriors."
Copyrightable
Not Copyrightable
The official seal of the City of Angleton.
Copyrightable
Not Copyrightable
The lyrics and melody to a song you composed.
Copyrightable
Not Copyrightable
A list of ingredients required to make cookies.
Copyrightable
Not Copyrightable
The specific descriptive paragraphs and instructions you wrote in your new cookbook explaining how to make the cookies.
Copyrightable
Not Copyrightable
A short slogan for a company, such as "Purple Pride Never Dies."
Copyrightable
Not Copyrightable
A video you filmed of a thunderstorm.
Copyrightable
Not Copyrightable
The name of a person.
Copyrightable
Not Copyrightable
A 500-word news article detailing the events of a school board meeting.
Copyrightable
Not Copyrightable
The raw data from a scientific experiment.
Copyrightable
Not Copyrightable
A live, unrecorded speech.
Copyrightable
Not Copyrightable
A recording of that speech.
Copyrightable
Not Copyrightable
A student needs a photo of the Texas state flag. They go to Wikimedia Commons, find a photo with a "CC BY" license, download it, and use it in their article with a caption that reads, "Photo by John Smith via Wikimedia Commons, licensed under CC BY." Is this a legal use?
Yes, they found a photo with a clear license and provided proper attribution.
No, they did not get permission from the photographer directly.
No, all photos of flags are in the public domain.
Maybe, it depends on the content of the article.
For a review of the new Star Wars movie, a student takes a screenshot from the official trailer and uses it as the main image. This is most likely:
Copyright infringement because Star Wars is owned by Disney.
A legal fair use for the purpose of criticism and commentary.
Only legal if the student also writes a positive review.
Only legal if the student took the screenshot themselves in the theater.
A student finds a professional photo of downtown Houston on a local photographer's personal website. The student downloads it, uses it in a story, and provides a photo credit. This is most likely:
A fair use because it's for a news story.
Legal because they gave the photographer credit.
Copyright infringement because they took a creative work without permission, harming the photographer's ability to sell it.
Legal as long as the student newspaper is non-profit.
A student finds a photo of Abraham Lincoln taken in 1864. This photo is in the public domain because:
It is a picture of a government figure.
The photo is in black and white.
The copyright has long expired (author died over 70 years ago).
It was taken before the invention of the internet.
The school newspaper staff wants to create a "hype" video for the football team and uses the song "SICKO MODE" by Travis Scott as the background music. This is most likely:
A fair use because it promotes school spirit.
Copyright infringement because the purpose is not transformative and it uses a highly creative work.
Legal as long as they give credit to Travis Scott.
Legal because the video is not being sold for money.
An editor wants to publish a story about the history of the school. They find an old yearbook from 1950 and scan a photo from it. This use is:
Legal, because all yearbooks are in the public domain.
Copyright infringement, because the yearbook is from after 1928 and the copyright is likely still held by the school or publisher.
A fair use because it's for a historical story.
Potentially a fair use, but risky without confirming the photo's copyright status.
