The Authors’ Licensing and Collecting Society has created a schools programme, Copywrite!, to educate 11 to 14-year-olds about the importance of copyright and intellectual property.

The programme has been designed with the help of National Schools Partnership, to be used as part of the KS3 curriculum in English, citizenship, drama and ICT and helps students understand why copyright is so important.

Barbara Hayes from ALCS said, “Young people these days are growing up in a culture where ‘copying and pasting’ from the internet is prevalent.

“We need young people to understand why copyright matters and how it affects people who write for a living – which may be them one day.”

The programme includes lesson plans for teachers which encourage creative writing and thinking in the students and highlights the social and moral context of copyright.

Video insights are also used to reinforce the effect plagarism has on individuals, showing interviews with four professionals from the writing industry including novelist Sophie Kinsella, TV scriptwriter Toby Whithouse, journalist Danuta Kean and publisher Richard Charkin.

As well as the school resources, Copywrite also includes a creative writing competition where the winner gets a netbook, Amazon vouchers and books, as well as GBP1,000 (€1,160) book voucher for their school library, an author school visit and class trip to a literary event.