Jun. 20, 2007 - Copyright Infringement -- Guest Article

“Okay, ladies…here come the Hands of a Child lapbooks.  Some of them have guides and some have add-ins.  I am making sure to be very careful not to repeat any, so that you can get them all and the extras.  And since I am a member of Hands of a Child I get what they call unit extenders.  As soon as I find them I will add them in too.  Enjoy!” 
(Recent post by April to a Yahoo File Sharing Group)

Technology has made life so easy for people.  We are able to communicate with people on different continents simply by tapping the keys on our keyboards, with the help of Instant Messaging, we can instantly communicate with our friends and relatives and even see them on the computer screen.  There are thousands of groups we can join, products we can buy, and information we can find.  With the help of technology, three stay-at-home moms living in two different states are able to run a growing business called In the Hands of a Child, provide a quality product, and earn an income for their families.  Unfortunately, with the help of technology other people have found they are able to take that quality product and income away from those three stay-at-home moms just as easily and with just the touch of a button on their keyboards. 

One homeschooling mom purchases a Project Pack from In the Hands of a Child.  She has four children, but only one Project Pack so she makes copies for each child.  A teacher purchases a Project Pack from In the Hands of a Child and each child in class creates a lapbook with it.  Is this type of sharing O.K. to do?  Of course it is!  In the Hands of a Child even grants permission for homeschooling co-ops or workshops to reproduce one copy of a Project Pack for up to 10 students per unit.  Why do we do that?  Because we know that educational materials can be expensive and we know that many households and classrooms need enough materials for every student.

Unfortunately, some people take that permission a step (or many steps) further and decide to provide our copyrighted materials to many other people.  The person quoted at the beginning of this article actually shared over 75 different units with hundreds, thousands, or even more people.  She took it upon herself to “share” our copyrighted material with people all over the world whom she does not even know.   That is why we are continually amazed at the lack of respect, lack of judgment, and lack of morality that some people demonstrate when they STEAL copyrighted materials from In the Hands of a Child and other companies like it.  Wow!  STEALING is such a strong word when we are talking about a person like the one quoted above who has simply downloaded some Project Packs to “share” with fellow homeschoolers and teachers like herself.  But would that same person walk into one of our homes and take the food off our table or steal our paycheck as we cash it at the bank?  Probably not, but by offering our products to such a huge amount of people, it is just like taking the food off our tables or stealing our paychecks.

Thanks to technology, the person quoted above probably did not even think twice about what she did. 

•    Did she think about the three people who worked long hours researching, writing, and designing the graphics for those materials? Probably not. 
•    Did she stop to think that the money those three people earn from their business helps to support their own children and families?  Probably not.
•    Did she stop to think of the fact that each unit she provided for free to thousands of people is worth $6.00 to $25.00 each?  Probably not. 
•    Did she realize that if just 10 people downloaded all of the units she provided for free it would total a loss of $4,500 to $18,750 to the people who worked so hard to write and design those units?  That if 100 people downloaded each unit it would result in a loss of $450,000 to $187,500?  Probably not.  
•    Did she realize that what she did is called copyright infringement and that it is against the law?  Maybe.

What she probably did not think about or know is this:  Unauthorized use or distribution of copyrighted material may not be reprinted, sold, or made freely available to others without the sole permission of the owners of the copyrighted material. It is against the law to do this.

What she probably did not think about or know is this: In the Hands of a Child files reports to Yahoo Groups and to the FBI each time we have documented proof (like the quote above) that someone is distributing our products without our permission.  She might not have thought we would catch her, but we did.  She might not have thought we would pursue her actions.  But we did.

Please do not assume that materials you purchase in Printed, Ebook, or on a CD are available for you to share with others.  Think twice before you share copyrighted materials with others.  Think about the people who work long hard hours to write and design those materials.  Think about the people who earn their living writing and designing those materials.  Think about how it would feel if someone took away your food or paycheck just by simply pushing a button on his or her keyboard.

Kimm, Niki, and I appreciate all of our customers.  We appreciate the fact that many of our customers like our products so much they want to share them with others.  That is why we offer so many free promotional products and we offer discounts and incentives to people who represent us at a workshop or co-op.  In the past month, we have given away over 500 FREE copies of our Moon Project Pack and over 60 2-month FREE Super Memberships.  The next time someone asks you for a free Project Pack from In the Hands of a Child, please don’t steal to give it to them…have them go to www.handsofachild.com and click on Freebie to download their very own copy of a FREE Project Pack!