EFF’s “Teach Copyright” Class Counters Entertainment Industry Misinformation

Gives students the real facts about their digital rights and responsibilities to fight against the entertainment industry’s intimidation curriculum that frightens students into believing that making copies is wrong.

The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) recently launched the “Teach Copyright” campaign to provide a more balanced copyright curriculum that encourages students to make full and fair use of technology that is revolutionizing learning and the exchange of information compared to the new one being peddled by the Copyright Alliance, backed by the recording, broadcast, and software industries.

“Kids and teens are bombarded with messages from a myriad of sources that using new technology is high-risk behavior,” reads the program’s website. “Downloading music is compared to stealing a bicycle — even though many downloads are lawful. Making videos using short clips from other sources is treated as probably illegal — even though many such videos are also lawful.”

The EFF wants to help educators give students the real story about their digital rights and responsibilities on the Internet, unlike the entertainment industry which portrays the use of new technology as a high-risk behavior in it’s ominous sounding “Think First, Copy Later” campaign.

“Today’s tech-savvy teens will grow into the artists and innovators of tomorrow,” said EFF Staff Attorney Corynne McSherry. “They need to understand their digital rights and responsibilities in order to create, critique, and comment on their culture. This curriculum fills an educational void, introducing critical questions of digital citizenship into the classroom without misinformation that scares kids from expressing themselves in the modern world.”

The “Teaching Copyright” curriculum is a detailed, customizable plan that connects students to contemporary issues related to the Internet and technology. “Teaching Copyright” invites discussion about how creativity is enabled by new technologies, what digital rights and responsibilities exist or should exist, and what roles students play as users of technology. The website at www.teachingcopyright.org includes guides to copyright law, including fair use and the public domain.

“Kids are bombarded with messages that using new technology is illegal,” said EFF Activist Richard Esguerra. “Instead of approaching the issues from a position of fear, “Teaching Copyright” encourages inquiry and greater understanding. This is a balanced curriculum, asking students to think about their role in the online world and to make informed choices about their behavior.”

The “Teaching Copyright” curriculum was apparently developed with the input of educators from across the US, and has been designed to satisfy components of standards from the International Society for Technology in Education and the California State Board of Education.

The class is especially important in California because back in 2006 it passed a law requiring schools that accept technology funding to educate students about copyright, plagiarism, and the basics of Internet safety (other states have since considered similar laws). Until now it has usually been entertainment industry backed groups like the Copyright Alliance that have been the ones providing material to schools and teachers to help “educate” students.

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