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Times Have Changed Since Heyday of Free MP3s: Scholastic Poll Shows 62% of Kids Support Copyright Protection
NEW YORK, April 22 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Kids' attitudes toward downloading material from the Internet have changed since the days of free MP3s. An online poll conducted by Scholastic Inc., the global children's publishing and media company, revealed that approximately 62 percent of kids in grades 1 through 8 think that one should have to pay for downloading others' work off the Internet, while only approximately 38 percent think that downloading materials should be free. The poll, online at Scholastic News Zone(TM) (http://www.scholasticnews.com), a leading source on the web for age-appropriate, daily news content for kids, received more than 35,000 responses between April 8th and April 15th, 2002.

Shrija, age 10, from California said: ``If everybody were to download from the Internet for free, the people who do the work won't get paid.''

Kasey, age 6, from Florida wrote: ``The people that write and sing the music work really hard. I think people should buy the music if they are interested in it.''

Olivia, age 10, from Texas said: ``I think that downloading things such as books and music off of the Internet for free should be allowed. Sometimes you really need something and you don't have the money to buy it.''

``There's been a real shift in kids' public opinion on the issue of free Internet downloads. Kids are recognizing that authors and artists essentially own their works, and believe they should be paid for them,'' said David Goddy, Publisher of Scholastic Classroom Magazines. ``We may be seeing the effect of efforts to warn the public, and especially kids, about what it means to download books, music and other materials for free that are protected by copyright in other mediums. This may also reflect the ages of our respondents, who are younger and may not have as much familiarity with online music sources as older teens and young adults.''

The Scholastic poll is not based on a scientifically designed sample of the student population. It is designed as an educational activity to encourage student thought and debate, and to give students an opportunity to express their opinions. The respondents are self-selected, based on teachers who want their classes to participate and students who want to participate individually.

About Scholastic Inc.

Scholastic (Nasdaq: SCHL - news) is the world's largest publisher and distributor of children's books. As a global children's publishing and media company serving the needs of parents, teachers, and children, Scholastic provides proprietary book and software distribution through school book clubs, school book fairs and to classrooms, as well as through the retail trade. Since 1920, Scholastic has created quality educational materials for schools and has expanded its reach to include the distribution of books, software, toys, online learning services and television programming directly to the home. Scholastic's Grolier division is the leading print and online publisher of children's reference materials and the leader in children's direct-to-home book clubs. Internationally, Scholastic operates wholly owned companies in Argentina, Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, The Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand and the United Kingdom. The U.S. Scholastic web site <http://www.scholastic.com> is a leading provider of educational services online for parents, teachers and children.

SOURCE: Scholastic Inc.