Pirates of the Internet

and how not to be one!

Prepared by:

Linda Sears, Library Media Specialist

Oak Mountain Intermediate School

February, 2005

Follow the Code!

• Intellectual Property

• Copyright

• Licensing Agreement

• Piracy

Intellectual Property

• Work that is the result of your own creativity.

• This work can be protected by copyright.

Copyright

• Copyright law says that if a person creates something, they own their creative work.

• Copyright symbol is a c with a circle around it. © Look for it on CD’s, books, movies, and Internet sites.

Licensing Agreement

• Every legal computer program comes with a licensing agreement. It allows you to install that program on your own computer. At school, we buy licensing agreements to install programs on multiple computers—in the Computer Lab or on our network.

Piracy

• Illegally copying or downloading from the Internet any software programs, music, pictures or games that are protected by copyright.

Are you a pirate?

• Do you download copyrighted materials on your computer at home?

• Do you lift information and paste it into your reports or stories?

• Do you copy other people’s software or CD’s?

So what’s the big deal?

• Some people say it’s okay to do these things because “lots of people do it”.

But if it’s okay, why is it illegal?

• Just as you wouldn’t want someone to take credit for YOUR work, creators want credit for their work.

Give the creators their booty!

• When you perform work, you get paid.

• Software developers and video-game creators depend on their income to create and develop more of their products.

Don’t walk the plank!

• Copyright holders can take legal action against pirates.

• In 2003 and in 2004, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) filed many lawsuits against people it claimed had been involved in music piracy. A 12-year-old honor student was successfully sued. She had to pay $2,000. It could have been up to $150,000.

Be on the lookout for pirates!

What would you do?

• Bobby and David have an assignment to complete. David goes to Bobby’s house to use his computer and software.

Is this:

A. Perfectly legal

B. Illegal.

C. Not clear

Best answer

• A. Perfectly legal since David is not copying any software and has Bobby’s permission to use his computer to help the two of them complete an assignment.

• You would have a problem if Bobby made a copy of his software and gave it to David.

What would you do?

• Melinda got a new I-Pod and copied all her CD’s onto it and then gave the I-Pod to her best friend Bethany to copy onto her I-Pod.

Is this:A. Perfectly legalB. IllegalC. Not clear

Best answer

• B. Illegal

• Melinda owns her CD’s and can use them, but when she gives them to Bethany, that deprives the copyright holder of income, making it illegal.

What would you do?

• You have to write a report for your class and you find the best website ever explaining your topic. You cut and paste several paragraphs straight into your report without crediting the source.

Is this:A. Perfectly legalB. IllegalC. Not clear

Best answer

• B. Illegal

• You always have to give credit to the person whose work you are using.

Information gathered from

• Instructor, March, 2005, p. 18, Pirates of the Classroom by Melanie G. Snyder

• I-Safety curriculum

• Additional information for teaching may be obtained at http://www.playitcybersafe.com