Cyber Ethics 101

By Meg McCaffrey -- School Library Journal, 11/1/2004

The American Library Association (ALA) is creating a curriculum to help librarians teach students about their rights and responsibilities when it comes to using copyrighted materials. "Librarians are worried about this issue," says Carrie Russell, copyright specialist for ALA's office for information technology policy. The effort comes in the wake of peer-to-peer, Internet file-sharing lawsuits, many involving young people accused of illegally sharing copyrighted music and movies downloaded from the Net. While the motion picture industry and software companies are stepping up their own campaigns to warn youngsters against piracy, some educators deem them "scare" campaigns, which emphasize corporate interests over student rights.

"The law can't be so strict to give the copyright holder total control," Russell says, adding that our founding fathers fought for access for all.

ALA plans to present a balanced curriculum that assures kids that they do indeed have rights when it comes to copyright law, according to Rick Weingarten, director of ALA's office for information technology policy. The fair-use provision, for example, allows the sharing of files for research and educational purposes. Other curriculum topics will include intellectual property law, file-sharing technology, and how to distinguish between plagiarism and the lawful use of copyrighted materials.

ALA will conduct focus groups to help librarians understand how young people view the Internet. As Russell explains, "There's a misconception of what's free on the Internet." It's so open that users can forget that rules of copyright govern it, she adds. That's where the new curriculum comes in. It might appear as a series of comic books, a CD, or a brochure, and it's expected to go out to school librarians nationwide later this year.

ALA believes its mission to provide copyright education is crucial. For one, librarians, as curators of digital information, are well positioned as authorities in the copyright debate. "It's as if some view library media specialists as the copyright police," Weingarten says. Russell adds, "We're responding to a need."