Respect for Creativity

In the Education Gazette on the 18 February 2008 there is an article on Respect for Creativity.
In the article there is a competition for students on a serious topic, respecting copyright law.

Respecting Creativity Competition 2008

The student competition will again promote the theme of respecting creativity and is linked to World IP day. Students will develop design work, a short film, soundtrack or article for a copyright and intellectual property campaign aimed at the under-18 age group.
It is open to all Y11-13 students. entries must be received by the Ministry of education by October 28.

Visual art and design, music, media studies, technology, graphics and English students may develop entries as part of study towards assessment of relevant achievement standards and unit standards. Full details of the competition can be found on the website: www.lovemusic.co.nz/site/

Part of the article form the Education Gazette is posted below,

A design competition touches on a serious topic for schools and students alike – respecting copyright law. WAYNE ERB reports
Respecting creativity is a concept that Yang Gan truly understands as a budding design student – he can see the rewards flowing from respect for his work.
After winning an intellectual property design competition last year as a Year 13 student at Hutt International Boys' School, commercial interest has been shown in Yang's work. T-shirts by another entrant, Alex Austen, are also likely to be put into production.
For Yang, it is exciting to see rewards and respect for his creative output.
"I put a lot of hours into this work and it was great afterwards to see the results and think that my work could be out there in the world."
He created a logo, a poster and a wall display for a photocopy room – all to convey a message about following copyright laws. That got him thinking too.
"I am trying to make all my work original. I am trying not to copy anything so that is one of the main things I have got from it."
This year, he begins a design course at Massey University in Wellington and is interested in a creative career.
For senior students with similar aspirations, the Intellectual Property: Respecting Creativity student competition runs again in 2008, and is sponsored by the Ministry of Education, Ministry of Economic Development and the Copyright Council of New Zealand.
The competition is designed to raise awareness among students of intellectual property (IP) rights, a topic worthy of discussion in classrooms, and staffrooms in the country's schools.
It is part of a wider public awareness plan by the three agencies to promote the themes of World IP Day (April 26) which include the contribution made by creators and innovators and how IP rights promote their work.
IP might seem an esoteric topic, but with the high levels of creative product consumed and created in schools, it is a topic worthy of classroom discussion.
Respecting creativity can mean students are aware of what they can and can not download from the internet, and what they can do with it next. It means teachers understand the boundaries around how they use copyright material in the classroom.
Ministry of Education secondary education publications senior adviser Nigel Evans says the Ministry is aware of situations where schools could unwittingly be in breach of the law.
He says schools could look to the tertiary education sector where robust procedures are in place to check and clear copyright material before use.
Nigel suggests teachers not only consider their own knowledge of copyright but also raise the issue with students.
"We have to ensure that schools are educating young people to understand their full responsibilities in relation to other people's property," says Nigel.
Mark McCall, director of anti-piracy for the New Zealand recording industry, shares those concerns.
He says young people are among the savviest at copying music clips off the internet, and he sees teachers having a crucial role in changing the perception that whatever is on the internet is free.
He backs the Respecting Creativity competition as an awareness-raising exercise, because today's students will be tomorrow's creators and stand to benefit if a framework for protecting intellectual property is maintained.
"We want to make sure students know how to negotiate that framework because that will allow them to protect their own creativity. It's about the safeguards on their own creative works.
"In the broad strategic sense, we're looking at the knowledge economy and showing the world that New Zealand not only has great creative talent but also respects and protects their own and others' creativity."
He says it is important that creative industries listen to schools as well.
"We want a way where we plan and grow together and create resources that can be used within the education sector whilst respecting copyright and rewarding creativity."
http://www.edgazette.govt.nz/articles.php?action=view&id=7500