Some of us have faced the bad experience of having our worksheets redistributed and I know one may feel discouraged to share his work after dealing with it. But we must remember that the internet is a newborn means of communication and even the countries are still learning how to manage to produce effective laws that protect people�s rights on the internet. The laws are insufficient and not clear, and not everyone is aware of their existence.

No one would take another person�s car for a ride without permission unless he had the clear intention of stealing, but they don�t see any problem if they take our work and use it without permission. They don�t associate the two actions as if they are the same, they think �if I�m able to copy it, I�m allowed to use�.

It�ll take long until people and countries respect the copyright laws or even to understand that everything on the internet has an owner or an author and the ownership has to be respect as we respect any other property.

Most of the copies occur because a person recognizes the value of someone else�s work and thinks (erroneously) that redistributing  would be a good way of praising. As teachers and authors we should accept the copies as part of the creation process and understand that besides feeding the internet with worksheets for our students and colleagues we also have the responsibility of teaching people how to respect another person�s rights over his own creation.

This new environment allowed people that never had written before to have a blog or a site and some don�t think that copying is wrong. To make them aware of the implications of their actions is to be considered as part of our work to make the internet a useful means of sharing and spreading information and education.

Just my 50 cents�

Have a nice day!

Zailda