Lucky and Flo: Canine Crime Fighters Educate Students About Copyright
Tuesday, March 11th, 2008 by adminGuest blog by Dan Glickman, Chairman and CEO of the Motion Picture Association of America
Lucky and Flo, the world's first-ever DVD sniffing Labrador Retrievers, are back in action in the United States, assisting the Motion Picture Association of American, Inc. (MPAA) in educating students and their teachers about the importance of copyright. This week, as we mark Copyright Awareness Week, we hope teachers and parents will find that Lucky and Flo are great ambassadors to help instruct young people on the importance of intellectual property and why it's so important to protect it.
A few weeks ago, the MPAA teamed with Weekly Reader to unveil a new curriculum for students in grades 5-7, featuring these canine crime fighters that will teach children about the importance of respecting copyrights and foster a deeper appreciation for those involved in creative industries. The curriculum will educate children about copyright theft and various forms of piracy, how to identify counterfeit DVDs, the consequences of film piracy, and most importantly, why protecting copyrights is important to them.
Education is a crucial element in the MPAA's efforts to fight and prevent piracy. While kids are frequent users of copyrighted content-every time they open a textbook, listen to their iPod, power up their PC, or visit the movie theater, they come in contact with intellectual property-many students are unfamiliar with the basic concepts of copyright protection. By speaking to kids at the elementary school level we are working to instill early-on the importance of protecting copyrights and the negative consequences of piracy. And, with the help of Lucky and Flo, we hope kids will have fun while learning these important lessons.
