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Grammy Award winner John Legend and other top recording artists say Music stations would be silenced if copyright protection didn''t exist.

"There''d be no music, no CDs, no cassettes, no vinyl, no DVDs, no MP3s," the soul-singing, song-writing sensation says in a public service announcement being played on stations across the country during Copyright Awareness Week March 6-10.

The special week began the day after Oscars(R) were presented at the 78th annual Academy Awards to movie and music creators whose works are protected by copyright law. The Motion Picture Association of America is among sponsors of the week.

"There''d be no music -- none" without that law, singer Gavin DeGraw says in the public service announcements aimed at educating young people about the vital role of copyright in keeping music and other creative works flowing.

"It's so important to the artists that you like," states Chris Henderson of the popular rock group 3 Doors Down. "Anybody who's creative should care about copyright."

Other entertainers participating in the announcements sponsored by The Copyright Society of the U.S.A. include hip-hop Sir-Mix-A-Lot, rap artists the Ying Yang Twins, songwriter Leslie Satcher, Deborah Allen, Paul Overstreet, Erica and Tina Atkins-Campbell of Mary Mary, and Martina McBride.

The society is building on its successful 2005 activities by expanding programs to educate young people about the value of copyright protection to both creators and consumers.

The copyright society is partnering for the second year with MENC -- The National Association for Music Education -- together with new teacher partners that include the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards, the National Art Education Association and the National Council of Teachers of English. All teacher members of these organizations as well as any other teachers who are interested in participating are asked to teach students basic concepts of copyright and encourage an understanding of and respect for the rights of creative people provided by federal law.

New curriculum materials for teachers organized by grade level will be available on the Copyright Society's website at http://www.csusa.org.  When users arrive at the website, they are asked to click the CAW button. The materials have been written by a team of teachers and also include curricula developed by the Business Software Alliance, the Entertainment Software Association, the Film Foundation and MENC together with ASCAP. Lesson plans will document the message that copyright is important not just to the creators, but also to consumers who benefit from the diversity of music, films, games, software and other products that reach the market because copyright law makes it possible to earn a living as a creator.

"We hope that the CAW website will become a focal point for teachers when it comes to education about copyright -- that's why we have been reaching out to many copyright industry trade groups to try to join forces in our efforts to educate students," said Monica Corton, chairperson of Copyright Awareness Week.

The sponsors of CAW 2006 are The Copyright Society, the American Intellectual Property Law Association, ASCAP, BMI, The Harry Fox Agency, Time- Warner, Inc, Bourne Co, Carlin America, EMI Music Publishing, Intellectual Property Owners Association, Peermusic, and Shapiro Bernstein Music Publishers.

The U.S. Copyright Office, located in the Library of Congress, also is participating in Copyright Awareness Week. During that week, students may visit the Copyright Office and get an orientation on copyright both as users and creators.

The orientation will include seeing the Copyright Office exhibit, a brief history and overview of current copyright issues and a mini-workshop on how to register claims to creative works. To arrange for a visit to the Copyright Office, contact Peter Vankevich, head of the Copyright Information Section, at 202-707-0600 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

More information about copyright is on The Copyright Society website at http://www.csusa.org/  and the U.S. Copyright Office website at http://copyright.gov/ .