The European Music Copyright Alliance is an alliance of European copyright organisations and associations founded with the primary goal of promoting and improving respect for copyright and for the creators it protects by fostering common educational initiatives at European level. Besides the national activities against piracy, now more than ever familiarity with copyright, will play a crucial role in maintaining the vitality of the arts in Europe. If copyrights are to be protected, copyright law needs to be understood and respected, which is particularly true with the younger generations. It is our belief that, by fostering an understanding of copyright law, including those activities that are prohibited and those that are permitted a greater respect for copyright and creators will naturally follow. Copyright education should be aimed at more than deterring infringement, by attempting, in addition, to illustrate how intellectual property law provides benefits to anyone seeking to contribute to the information age. Most people, young people in particular, know very little about copyright. Now that consumers can easily copy music works the publicÕs awareness of copyright law has become more urgent. Therefore the Alliance intends to reaffirm the notion of copyright by helping students to understand the importance of intellectual property, the basic rights of the right owners and the core goal of copyright laws as an important foundation for promoting and defending artistic creativity in Europe. EMCA is launching the European Copyright Awareness Week , an educational event targeted to students from elementary to middle schools that will be held in each European nation by developing a cohesive, concerted and coordinated copyright awareness didactic program to be used in the classrooms of all European countries.