Education Law

Teaching copyright to kids

BoardBuzz enjoyed reading Ars Technica’s recent take on innovative copyright curriculum, covering such topics as fair use, public domain, and copyright infringement. Ars writes that:

Not pleased with the copyright curricula generated by Big Content, the Electronic Frontier Foundation has produced classroom materials of its own. Not surprisingly, fair use, the public domain, and artists who love P2P file-sharing of their music all make appearances.

Ars points out that the EFF curriculum glosses over the massive scale of P2P (peer-to-peer) infringements though. Their curricular materials, Teaching Copyright, are accurate, but the crux is in their placement of emphasis–opposite that of big content.

The five lessons teach kids to:

• Reflect on what they already know about copyright law.
• See the connection between the history of innovation and the history of copyright law.
• Learn about fair use, free speech, and the public domain and how those concepts relate to using materials created by others.
• Experience various stakeholders’ interests and master the principles of fair use through a mock trial.

BoardBuzz thinks such lessons are worthwhile, especially in the internet age where infringement is just a mouse click away. Moreover, the power of publishers really shines through here. They can basically influence what students learn. It’s all in the emphasis. High stakes “curricula wars” are here to stay, since states like California have now mandated copyright education in the classroom. What would you want your kids to know about copyright? Let us know, leave a comment.

Full post as published by BoardBuzz: NSBA's Daily Weblog on June 03, 2009 (boomark / email).