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Donny The Downloader |
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Donny In The Bronx |
| i-SAFE's Jeff Godlis and a group of Bronx students bring "Donny the Downloader" to life in a school assembly performance illustrating the rights of music creators and the negative impacts of illegal downloading. Similar assemblies took place at two L.A.-based schools during ASCAP's second annual "I Create Music" Week. |
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ASCAP, i-SAFE educational program on music piracy shows success in changing attitudes about downloading
While Pirates of the Carribean: At World's End entertained movie fans this summer, pirates of another kind � music pirates - continue to take copywritten work without fairly compensating music creators. However, a powerful new program designed to educate American middle school students about music piracy and the real costs of downloading music illegally seems to be having a tangible impact in changing young people's attitudes and behaviors about so-called "free" content online.
ASCAP and i-SAFE, the leader in Internet safety education, have partnered to create the nation's first comprehensive educational program addressing why personal piracy of music and other creative content is harmful. Titled "The Donny the Downloader Experience," this new program is being presented in schools across the U.S.
Since its launch in February, the program has already reached nearly a quarter of a million students through assemblies and an interactive curriculum. Two such assemblies were presented as part of ASCAP's "I Create Music Week" in Los Angeles in April. Early research collected from a pool of 680 students (grades 6-8) who participated in the program found the following:
• 67 percent have a better understanding of what is legal to download
• 66 percent believe that someone is harmed if they download music without paying for it
• 60 percent said they were now more likely to use legal online stores for downloading music
• 67 percent said they were less likely to accept illegally downloaded music from friends
MULTIMEDIA ASSEMBLY BRINGS THE ISSUES TO LIFE
The centerpiece of The Donny the Downloader Experience curriculum is a multimedia school assembly program featuring fast-paced animated videos starring the misadventures of Donny. Donny is a 14-year old who is tech-savvy, but unaware of the bigger picture of why illegal downloading hurts the same performing artists and songwriters whose music he loves. The program centers on the negative reactions from the other kids and adults in his life who he tries to impress with his access to supposedly "free" music, while demystifying the process of how music is created.
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The Donny the Downloader Experience Program Has Already Reached Nearly a Quarter of a Million Junior High Students |
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In addition to the animated "Donny" segments, the assembly also features compelling video segments that introduce reallife, 17-year-old aspiring music creator, Sonya Bender. The videos follow Sonya as she meets with music creators, producers and publishers to get an unfiltered perspective on how illegally downloaded music negatively impacts their ability to make a living from being creative. The assembly experience also includes an interactive component, where students perform a special "Donny" skit to help reinforce what they've learned.
EDUCATING CHILDREN ON THE VALUE OF CREATIVE WORK
Concerns over the punitive legal approach being taken against the music consuming public, especially young people, inspired ASCAP to explore alternatives that would educate children at an age before they begin to illegally download music online. After gathering data and conducting numerous focus groups, ASCAP found that the following concept struck a chord with kids: "When you illegally download, you hurt more people than you think." Further research showed that on average, students are beginning to illegally download music in their pre-teen years - making it critical to reach them with educational programs at the middle school level.
"The Donny the Downloader Experience is the first program of its kind, and is an extremely important initiative for ASCAP given that the very livelihood of our music creators is in jeopardy due to music piracy," said ASCAP Executive VP of Marketing Phil Crosland. "Education is a critical part of the process, in terms of helping kids understand the tangible value of creative intellectual property like songs. We have found that 'Donny' strongly resonates with young people, and helps them recognize on a personal level that downloading music illegally hurts many more people than they might otherwise realize."
"Our partnership with ASCAP has helped to bring another critical Internet-related issue into our educational curriculum," said i- SAFE's CEO-Program Director Teri Schroeder. "As young people increasingly live their lives online, music piracy continues to be a topic of major concern. We are pleased to offer one of the first effective educational efforts supporting the value of copyrighted material and the impact of downloading on those who create it. i-SAFE expects 2.2 million junior high school students to experience Donny in 2007.
For more information and to view a video excerpt of The Donny the Downloader Experience, visit www.ascap.com/resource/dtd/. Educators and others who would like to conduct this assembly may request materials by creating an account at www.isafe.org.
The CD/DVD set is also available for purchase through i-SAFE's online store. Founded in 1998 and active in all 50 states, i-SAFE Inc. is the leader in Internet safety education. i-SAFE is a nonprofit foundation whose mission is to educate and empower youth to make their Internet experiences safe and responsible. The goal is to educate students to avoid dangerous, inappropriate, or unlawful online behavior. i-SAFE accomplishes this through dynamic K through 12 curriculum and community-outreach programs to parents, law enforcement, and community leaders.
