Dueling Banjos

From the Chronicle:

Copyright-Law Curricula Face Each Other in a Duel

Just a few months after the Recording Industry Association of America began offering a curriculum for teaching copyright law, the Electronic Frontier Foundation has released a curriculum of its own.

The foundation’s program, “Teaching Copyright,” includes a Web site and five 60-minute lessons that the foundation hopes will give students what it calls “the real story” about their rights when it comes to downloading movies, music, and other media from the Internet.

Tracy Mitrano, who is director of IT policy at Cornell University and also director of the university’s computer-policy and law program, says it’s important to remember that both organizations have their own points of view and motivations.

“If you get something form the RIAA, it’s going to have its own motivation for its perspective implicit in its curriculum,” Ms. Mitrano says. “If you get something from a not-for-profit, you may want to know something about its positions on other matters, and where it may fall on the political spectrum.”

“If I was teaching copyright law as an undergraduate course, I’d offer both up,” she adds. “That’s what democracy is all about. That’s what debate is all about.” —Marc Beja

[Some U of M administrators might want to read this stuff also. Especially those who are lawyers.]