A Study of the Effects of Information on Students' Understanding of Copyright Ethics.

by Thaxton, S. Adair

This study describes a questionnaire survey of undergraduate on-campus residents at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, which compared the knowledge of students with and without access to understandable information on copyright.

Copyright law has become a major issue for many universities as students use their schools' high-speed connection to download a variety of copyrighted and non-copyrighted materials. Universities and copyright holders alike have taken a variety of actions to try to reduce violations and complaints on campus; however, these tactics have not served the information need of students. Students who are provided with information on copyright in a centralized location and accessible format are more likely to have a better understanding of the issues involved than students who are not provided with this information.