Top Four Reasons to Care about Copyright
1. Because it's the law - a fine of up to $250,000 per infringement per defendant (you and the institution) plus lawyer fees, court costs, etc.
2. Keeping copyright compliant keeps one creative. Are you familiar with the Fair Use Guidelines?
3. You are a copyright holder. If you have expressed an original expression and it is fixed in a tangible medium, then you have the exclusive rights to reproduce, prepare derivative works, distribute copies, perform the copyrighted work publicly, display the copyrighted work publicly, and in the case of sound recordings, to perform the copyrighted work by means of digital audio transmission. So emails, research, photographs, whatever, you have these rights over the use of the work.
4. And the top reason to care about copyright...academic integrity. If students are required to show original, creative work, then they need to see this from teachers. Seeing correct citations to resources in assignments, statements of copyright on works distributed in class (print or digital), and statements that unauthorized further dissemination of the work to others outside the class is unacceptable shows copyright infringement is unacceptable at Hallmark University. Most importantly, students need to know that copyright exceptions in the not-for-profit teaching/learning environment do not necessarily carry over into the workplace. It is best to learn about copyright now then getting caught plagiarizing while on the job.
Source: https://spcguide.libguides.com/c.php?g=426516&p=2913230
Why Are Copyright Laws Important?
"There are numerous benefits of copyright protection. When an individual creates a new work, such as a poem, book, painting or photograph, it is copyright law that helps protect his ownership of that work. When your business hires someone to create a new work, such as a brochure or a website, the purpose of copyright is to help clarify who has ownership of that work. The importance of copyright is difficult to overstate."
Source: Sorkin, D. (2019, April 24). Why Are Copyright Laws Important? Chron. https://smallbusiness.chron.com/copyright-laws-important-52601.html#:~:text=When%20an%20individual%20creates%20a,has%20ownership%20of%20that%20work.