Pro-Copyright Curriculum Taught In US Classrooms

The Copyright Alliance has launched the Copyright Alliance Education Foundation that will develop educational programs, and has already distributed a “copyright curriculum” for educators at the West Potomac Academy in Virginia. From the Alliance’s web site:

“Our nation has reaped the rewards both culturally and economically of the principle and practice of copyright,” said Patrick Ross, Copyright Alliance Executive Director. “This system has served us well for centuries – so much so, that it has become an invisible underpinning in our country’s prosperity. Now, as a new generation of creators populates today’s classrooms, we must ensure that principle is not taken for granted and continues to be a foundation for creative success.”

The pilot curriculum is entitled “Think First, Copy later“, and aims to teach students how to protect their creations, and to promote a pro-copyright environment in schools.

Members of the Copyright Alliance include Microsoft, RIAA, MPAA, Time Warner, Sony Pictures Entertainment, Universal Music Group and Viacom.

Aaron Engley, administrator at West Potomac Academy, told TorrentFreak, “Our school has a communication and arts focus, we engaged in this relationship to assist our students protect their own intellectual property. We were teaching our students how to produce, but not educating them on how to protect what they produce.”

Does this seem a bit like propaganda, or is it just a normal education? Should students be “taught” to follow a pro (or anti) copyright opinion at all? Furthermore, this curriculum probably doesn’t tell students which entities receive the largest share of copyright profits, or the truly remarkable results of sharing information for free.

It comes down to teaching kids one way of thinking, rather than letting them analyze facts and opinions critically in order to form their own opinion about how their intellectual property should be protected or shared. The motives behind the copyright curriculum are obvious, as the companies that belong to the Copyright Alliance stand to gain the most from increasingly restrictive copyright practices.

Should schools teach copyright? Are century-old definitions of copyright applicable in today’s digital age?

Image via gizmodo.com
[TorrenkFreak, PRNewswire]