Parent-Teacher Resource Page

Welcome to the copyrightkids.org web site, brought to you by the Copyright Society of the U.S.A. We hope you and your students will use this educational tool to identify copyright issues and learn how and why copyright law applies to everyone.

Would you like to find out what a copyright is and why it is relevant to you? Want to find out what the terms "intellectual property," "fair use," "derivative work" and "public domain" mean? You have come to the right place!

Copyright is the protection provided to the creators of "original works of authorship." Copyright gives the creator exclusive rights to sell or license his or her works and reward his or her efforts. It is important for anyone who creates and/or uses copyrightable materials -- including kids -- to understand what the U.S. copyright law permits, what it restricts, and why.

The goals of the Copyright Society's Kid's Website are to provide:

The site is designed so that students may use it on their own or in connection with classroom activities. The material provided on this site may be reproduced for educational, noncommercial purposes, provided that the following copyright notice is included: "Copyright 2001, The Copyright Society of the U.S.A.," and the following acknowledgment also included: "These materials are reproduced from the copyrightkids.org website courtesy of Friends of Active Copyright Education (FA©E), an initiative of the Copyright Society of the U.S.A.."

Our interactive quiz, the Copyright Challenge, could be a class assignment after reviewing the site. As a class project, we also recommend that you have the class collectively produce a work, such as a mural or a book of poems or essays, and then go through the process of registering the work with the Copyright Office, listing each of the students as a joint author. On the Registration page, you will find instructions and forms for registering your own works with the Copyright Office located in the Library of Congress.

Students can learn about the fundamentals of copyright law in the Copyright Basics section of the site. Teachers should feel free to distribute the Copyright Basics in class. Students can then join the Lincoln Middle School Multimedia Yearbook Club members as they navigate through copyright law along with the help of their knowledgeable guide, "Copyright Cat." By working through the various copyright issues with the members of the Yearbook Club, students will find out how copyright might apply to them and why it is important to learn about it! They will discover how copyright law applies in the areas of music, photography, fine arts, film,

Throughout this web site, a user-friendly toolbar will enable you to jump to any other section of the site, allowing you to quickly obtain more information on a particular subject. Topic headings also appear in the individual sub-pages enabling you to jump to any exercise. Many helpful links have also been provided on each page to help you understand particular terms and concepts. In addition, there are pages that outline sample permission letters, copyright-related materials, and FAQ's.

We welcome any suggestions you may have on how to improve the site. Please e-mail us at barpan@rcn.com

Related Resources Guidelines For Parents & Teachers:

CURRICULUM MATERIALS

http://www.facecopyright.org

http://www.uspto.gov

http://www.copyright.gov