No+They+Do+Not+Respect+IP+Rights

=Students Don't Respect Intellectual Property Rights=


 * Introduction**

It has been estimated that over $9.5 billion dollars has occurred in trade loss as a result of international copyright piracy in the United States alone. With society’s increased internet availability over the past few decades, it has become easier for students and individuals to simply “copy and paste” material for available information (Lakhan, 2010).

The United States Patent and Trademark Office says intellectual property "...is imagination made real. It is the ownership of a dream, an idea, an improvement, an emotion that we can touch, see, hear, and feel. It is an asset just like your home, your car, or your bank account." (United States, 2010) These ideas and tangible goods need to be protected just like any other asset and may be done so via patents, trademarks, copyrights and trade secrets.


 * No Respect for Intellectual Property Rights **

If you listen to students talk or review their media players, you may be surprised to hear a lot of talk about downloading. Today's youth have become active participates in illegal music and video sharing. Four reasons that students engage in such activities are:
 * Lack of Education concerning copyright laws
 * Mimicking others
 * Convenience access to music and video downloads
 * Invisible Attitude (No fear of suffering ramifications if caught)

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More and more information is available on the web. Even older individuals who are returning to college are beginning and ending their research projects on the internet. Many do not realize that to even use someone's thought or idea (even though it is not word for word) without proper citation is a form of plagiarism. Other students do not understand the legal ramifications of such acts as burning CD’s to distribute to friends or downloading an illegal copy of a movie of from the internet. Students are not educated to understand that intellectual property infringement is not a victim-less crime and that it is destructive to both the financial and information markets (Lakhan, 2010). The assumption is that if it is on the web, that it must be free. In January of 2008, Microsoft Corporation had KRC Research conduct a survey of 501 teenagers in grades seventh through tenth. The following indicates key findings: (KRC, 2008)
 * Lack of Education of Copyright Laws**


 * Forty nine percent of these teenagers said they are not familiar with the rules and guidelines for downloading content from the Internet
 * Fifty-five percent of these teens say they have downloaded or shared content over the Internet
 * Forty eight percent of these teens thought they should be punished for illegally downloading materials over the Internet
 * After these teens heard the rules for downloading and the penalties, one in four (28%) said they would “probably continue to download and share content over the Internet without paying for it or gaining the owner’s permission".
 * Of teens aware of rules and guidelines concerning downloading, half (50%) reported their parents were the main source of information.

Students do not have respect for copyright laws because they have the reasoning and rationale that 'everyone is doing it' so it must be alright. Most homes today have at least one computer. Many parents (as well as a growing number of youth) have phones that have internet capabilities. The high public demand for ease and accessibility may come at a price. It is very easy to quickly hit a button and either copy and paste or download material. Everyone is in such a hurry that few are truly thinking if what they are doing is right or legal.
 * Mimicking Others**

On November 16th, 2010 I had a very interesting conversation with an eleventh grade student at the high school where I teach. This high school is a college preparatory school and students begin to take college courses during their junior year. Our staff has emphasized the necessity of citations and the penalties for plagiarizing. So it was a surprise to me when this student proudly showed me a flier she had created advertising her babysitting services. On this flier was an image of the baby (Kate) from Arthur the television show and book franchise. I asked her about her citations and if she had permission to use that image. She looked at me and said, "But this isn't for school" (Student, 2010). I just stared at her in shock. I explained to her that there are bigger consequences than getting a zero on an assignment for plagiarism. The artist who designed the Arthur characters, Marc Brown, has made a living off of his creations and using his images is stealing. My student could be sued for the use of Brown's image without permission. This is an all A student, who is currently enrolled in two college classes, and knows the tricky world of intellectual property, but would rather do what she wants, because, I quote, "Who cares?" (Student, 2010) Disrespecting intellectual property is too easy and seen as insignificant by too many students, but there are serious consequences.

Students have no respect for copyright laws because programs such as Napster, Limewire, and Kazaa puts illegal downloading at their fingertips. With a simple computer, they were able to gain access to huge amounts of music which increased the number of people who were performing illegal acts. In recent news, we have witnessed how much artists lose in profits as a result of these downloads. For example, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) has successfully sued a single mother from Minnesota for a total of 1.5 million dollars in damages for illegally downloading and sharing a song (Sandoval, 2010). Yes, there continues to be numerous ways to illegally obtain copyrighted music from the internet but court cases have shown that companies are now being charged and held accountable for assisting those who download illegally. Napster lost its court battles and became a corporate shell. Kazaa and Limewire are also losing their court battles. In addition, Bit Torrent has numerous institutions gunning for its file sharing promiscuity as well. The punishment for such crimes is also becoming stiffer. Movie pirating in some states, such as New York, carries a hefty fine and even jail time (Clark, 2007). Illegally downloading music holds the same types of consequences and repeat offenders can pay up to $150,000.00 in fines and serve up to 6 years in jail (King, 2010).
 * Convenient Access to Music and Video Downloads**

media type="custom" key="7599057" Video retrieved Nov 20, 2010 from - []
 * Invisible Attitude**

"Whats the matter some sort of copy right infringement?" (Adams, 2008) In this You-Tube video clip the dog knows that he may have broken a copy right law yet still went ahead with his actions. This is very similar to what many students today feel about plagiarism and illegal downloading of media. Often students don't respect copyright laws because they may begin to rationalize in their own head that the odds of getting 'caught' and truly having to pay the consequences is near to impossible. It is almost like those going-to- work-speeders. They assume that since everyone is doing it at the same time, that they won't get caught. Illegal use of copyright material is not seen as a violent offense. The world often downplays this type of crime until it is broadcast in the media. Because downloading occurs in the privacy of their homes and artists do not have the time or energy to prosecute every offender, children do not see any punishment for illegally using someone else's product. This causes them to develop an invisible attitude. They seem to think that plagiarism is the only issue covered under copyrighting because in schools they may face reprimand for plagiarism but odds are, no one will arrest them for the music on their MP3 players.

Whether it be a lack of true understanding for what could potentially happen or the ignorant attitude that getting caught "won't happen to me", children do not respect the rights of intellectual property. Additionally, children do not realize that "Although plagiarism is not a criminal or civil offense, plagiarism is illegal if it infringes an author's intellectual property rights, including copyright or trademark. For example, the owner of a copyright can sue a plagiarizer in federal court for copyright violation. The plagiarist in turn may have to pay the copyright owner of the plagiarized works the amount he or she actually lost because of the infringement, in addition to paying attorney's fees." (Paul, 2006) Until students receive some form of punishment or see more young people being charged they will continue to think that they are invisible.


 * Conclusion**

The internet is growing at a very fast pace, and the information, images, music and videos available on it appears limitless. Even though we educate students on the facts of plagiarism and copy rights, they feel safe viewing things from the comfort of their home and don't necessarily feel that downloading something for their personal use is wrong. Students feel safe and invisible because 'everyone is doing it'. What they don't realize is that as the internet grows, so does technology. Ways of being able to locate and track offenders are being developed and the fines that will be associated them won't be cheap. Granted the odds of any one person being caught are limited, however those odds may increase (just as speeding tickets in Michigan do) when the government needs more revenue. As educators, it is important to be aware of this disparity in our students' education. It is a difficult challenge when we have to acknowledge that even straight 'A' students might not see a problem with illegally copying or downloading information, images, music or videos, but one well worth the challenge. As an older (return to college) student once told me, "Well, I wasn't sure if it was wrong, but my son, (who knows more about the internet than I do) said it was OK." Educating our students in this area is crucial. It may seem like a losing battle, but one that is definitely needed because just as with speeding tickets most drivers won't respect the laws completely until it is more strictly enforced. As educators it is up to us to make sure our students are not the ones being made an example of when the regulators of copyright laws start coming down hard on the rule breakers.


 * References:**

1.Adams, Scott. (Dec 14, 2008) You Tube Video. "Dilbert: Copyright Infringement Video" Retrieved Nov. 20th 2010 from [] 2.Clark, A. (2007, July 5). "Man busted under new movie piracy law". Retrieved November 15, 2010 from [] 3.King, R. (2010, March 27). "Consequences for Downloading Music Illegally". Retrieved on November 15, 2010 from [] 4. KRC Research. January 23, 2008. "Topline Results of Microsoft Survey of Teen Attitudes on Illegal Downloading". Retrieved on November 13, 2010 from [] 5. Lakhan, Shaheen. "Stop Piracey with Edificaiton". Retrieved November 13, 2010 from [] 6. Paul, S. (2006, January). "Plagiarism: What is it Exactly?". Retrieved on November 15, 2010 from [] 7. Sandoval, G. (2010, November 10) "Did Jammie Thomas Case backfire on file sharers?" Retrieved November 16, 2010 from [|http://news.cnet.com/8301-31001_3-20021947-261.html] 8. Student Anonymous. Personal Interview. 16 Nov. 2010. 9. Southhampton, University of. (January 26, 2010). "Protecting Intellectual Property" picture. Retrieved November 14, 2010 from @http://www.soton.ac.uk/ris/commercialisation/index.shtml 10. United States Patent and Trademark Office. Retrieved November 14, 2010 from [] 11. World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). (2010, January 27) "Download generation" [Video Podcast]. Retrieved on November 20, 2010 from [].