Copyright education programmes
One key component of ALCS' remit is to educate about copyright - what it means, what it does and how it benefits creators, readers and viewers.
A key element of ALCS' strategy in educating about copyright is to work to educate young people growing up in an environment where illegal downloading and the 'copy and paste culture' is prevalent, at an appropriate age, about copyright, so that they can make informed choices and see what value copyright has to ensure they benefit from their own creativity or the creativity of others.
What the Dickens?
Tuesday 7th February 2012 marked the 200th anniversary of the birth of Charles Dickens. Not only one of our greatest writers, but also a passionate campaigner for copyright who continually raised the issue with the decision-makers of his day.
To celebrate the occasion, and to underline the continuing importance of copyright to writers and creators in the 21st century, the Authors’ Licensing and Collecting Society and the National Schools Partnership launched “What the Dickens?”, a copyright education programme for schools, inspired by the work of the novelist, and supported by the Charles Dickens Museum.
The programme aims to inspire and encourage creative writing in schools as well as nurturing an appreciation of the importance of copyright. It features comprehensive lessons plans for teachers, activities, a competition for students, and supporting films from CILIP Carnegie Medal winning writers Meg Rosoff and Mal Peet; and screenwriter Sarah Phelps whose credits include the recent BBC adaptation of “Great Expectations” (see www.whatthedickens.org)
Director of the Charles Dickens Museum, Dr Florian Schweizer comments:
“This is a terrific resource for teachers to use with young people in schools. The Dickens 2012 celebrations encompass a wide range of events and activities to commemorate the bicentenary, and we are delighted that this educational resource from ALCS and the National Schools Partnership forms part of that programme”.
The programme was included under the umbrella of Dickens 2012 - which celebrated the anniversary year of Charles Dickens across the country.
The findings from this programme can be found here.
CopyWrite! 
In 2011 ALCS also commissioned the National Schools Partnership to produce a set of resources for schools.
Aimed at raising awareness about copyright and how it affects the career of a 'creator', the programme - entitled 'CopyWrite' - focuses on 4 key creative careers: that of a novelist, scriptwriter, journalist and publisher.
The programme, aimed at key stage 3 and 4 students, fits in with the national curriculum and provides a mixture of video clips and classroom activities to provide an 'off the shelf' learning experience for students.
The programme also included a creative writing competition for students to engage with whilst promoting a positive copyright message.
The CILIP Carnegie & Kate Greenaway Medals Shadowing Scheme
ALCS has, for the last 7 years, supported
the CILIP Carnegie and Greenaway Medals shadowing scheme.
Each year over 3,800 reading groups involving over 90,000 children and young people ‘shadow’ the awards; reading, debating and enjoying the shortlisted books.
Shadowing introduces children to top quality fiction and illustration, to new writers, illustrators and genres, and encourages breadth and depth of reading. The shortlisted books fire their imagination and help develop literacy and critical skills.
To supplement this shadowing process, ALCS has provided a range of activities, competitions and resources to raise awareness about copyright and enhance the shadowing experience. The competition in 2012 was based around Dickens (click here for more information) and this years competition encourages the 'shadowers' to write their own haiku. Find out more about the 2013 competition here.
We have also produced a set of resources and activities for students and teachers based to help understand copyright. These can be downloaded here.