Think pedophiles are the only predators stalking your kids at school? Think again. The RIAA’s “Music Rules!” school program miseducates kids about copyright.

For instance, the RIAA tells kids, “Never copy someone else’s creative work without permission from the copyright holder” — omitting the important right to make creative fair use of existing content. It also coins a misleading term, “songlifting,” (which the curriculum says is “just as bad as shoplifting”).

If you think things couldn’t get any worse, think again. Now the RIAA wants kids to work as unpaid PR shills.

“Take your campaign a step further by contacting the editor of your community newspaper or the director of your community cable television station to see if you can submit an article or video about your campaign.”

These kids will look pretty stupid in 2011, when the RIAA plans to give up its fight against digital piracy. The RIAA is crippling children’s creativity in today’s remix culture, all to protect its outdated business model for a few more years.

It’s Captain Copyright all over again, but this time with the indoctrinative force of formal education. Even 50 Cent accepts piracy as part of his music marketing. You know things are messed up when a former drug dealer makes more sense than a school program.

Originally posted on September 22, 2009 @ 6:08 am