Have you ever taken something that didn't belong to you? Most honest people have not. Have you ever downloaded music, movies, or games without paying for them? Most honest people probably have. Did you know that when you download material from the Internet you may be infringing on someone's copyright? Your mission in this quest is to find out what the laws are regarding using materials found on the Internet. Use the resources provided for you below to find out more about copyright and how the law may apply to you, or to those you might be investigating in the future.

Investigation Copyright Kids Steps:

Step 1

Visit http://www.copyrightkids.org/  and read through the Copyright Basics & FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions) page. Your SSI Chief may want to go over these with you.
Look for additional answers to common questions at cyberbee.com

Step 2 

Watch two videos on copyright and fair use. Answer the following 7 questions as you are viewing the videos (you are encouraged to copy these questions and paste them into a word processing program or your blog and answer them there).

1. What is copyright?
2. How long does the copyright on an original work last?
3. What is the fair use act?
4. What is plagiarism?
5. What types of things can be copyrighted? What cannot be copyrighted?
6. What is the public domain?
7. The fair use act allows anyone to use copyrighted materials for educational purposes. What other uses are covered under the fair use act?

Step 3

Demonstrate your learning to your SSI Chief by creating a digital artifact for your portfolio. You may use any program such as PowerPoint, Prezi, or Publisher to complete this task. You must include the information you gathered during this quest plus public domain images or clip art to help illustrate your learning (remember to cite your sources correctly). Your SSI Chief may have some suggestions for finding public domain images on the Internet.

Step 4

Successsfully complete the Copyright Quiz. Your SSI Chief has access to the answers to check it for accuracy. We trust you will earn a passing score on the copyright quiz and be ready for the next quest. Good luck agent.

Super Agent Optional Bonus Activity

Write a short personal reflection piece describing a time when you unknowingly broke copyright laws. Based on what you have learned in this quest, who might your actions have affected and why? What steps might you take next time to ensure you are being legal and fair.

Completing this Quest

In order to successfully complete this quest you must provide your SSI Chief with accurate information about copyright by handing in your questions and Quiz results. Save your digital artifact to your secret file space or post it to your digital portfolio online. 

 Check this off your tracking document