Mumbai: The Motion Picture Association (MPA) and the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) will distribute 300,000 copies of an educational booklet outlining the dangers of illegal peer-to-peer (P2P) file sharing to 300,000 students studying at the country’s top universities.

The booklet titled Respect Creativity, Use Legally was developed to warn young people that users of P2P file-sharing services risk exposing their computers to harmful viruses, worms, Trojan horses and annoying pop-ups, and risk data loss and identify theft. Around the world there have been a number of high-profile leaks from government and corporate computer networks over the past few years due to inadvertent uploading of confidential data by P2P network users.

The first batch of 300 booklets was distributed to students attending an IPR presentation by Renmin University commissioner of the general administration of press and publication Liu Binjie on 22 April. The remaining copies will be distributed to welcome new students at universities throughout China in August this year.

On the following day, MPA and China Association for Educational Technology (CAET) jointly launched an anti-piracy campaign designed to challenge the creativity of students aged between 6 to 15 years in China’s elementary, middle, and junior high schools.

Established in 1991, CAET is a state corporation approved by China’s Education Ministry. Its main tasks are to organize, promote and coordinate research relating to educational technology and academic activities to strengthen international cooperation. CAET is active in a wide range of disciplines including foreign languages, medicine, educational technology, educational software and movies.

The competition runs from April to June 2008 and entries can take a wide range of formats, limited only by the creativity of the students, including posters, graphic design, animation, photographs, poetry, music and movies. Entries can also be filmed debates, exhibitions or interviews on IPR-related topics. An estimated one million students across China are expected to participate in this competition.

The campaign challenges young people to take a fresh look at the value of intellectual property to society and to individuals and judges will assess the extent to which entries achieve that goal. The creator of the best piece of work will be invited on a trip to Hollywood to visit MPA member company film studios.

Both events are part of the MPA’s efforts to mark World Intellectual Property Day in China.

World IP Day is an initiative of the World Intellectual Property Organization and has been celebrated annually on 26 April since its inception in 2001. The day is primarily a chance to reflect on the importance of human innovation and celebrate the important role that IP plays in our daily lives.

"One of the best ways to help improve understanding of the value of intellectual property is to invite people to create work of their own," said MPA president and managing director, Asia-Pacific Mike Ellis.

"It is good for China’s brightest young people – the creators of tomorrow – to reflect on the value of intellectual property and I am particularly pleased that through this collaboration with CAET, respect for copyright can be further enhanced in China’s young students."

"These young people should also be aware of the risks involved when they use P2P file sharing networks," Ellis added. "The booklets we are distributing with IFPI will serve as a guide, and will also highlight that cumulative effects of individuals downloading pirated music and movies are just as damaging as syndicated intellectual property theft."