LONDON, June 30 /PRNewswire/ --     Earlier this year the Author's Licensing & Collecting Society (ALCS)
signed a three year deal with CILIP to support the dedicated awards website
until 2010.

"We are delighted to be working with CILIP to support these highly
respected awards," says Barbara Hayes, ALCS' Deputy CEO. "Through the awards
'shadowing' scheme we have a great opportunity to engage a wider audience of
students on the subject of intellectual property and copyright. It is vital
that young people understand the importance of their own rights, as well as
respecting those of others and we have developed entertaining packs to enable
them to explore these issues further. Guided by teachers and librarians, if
we can help them understand and appreciate the concepts of intellectual
property rights and copyright, it will help them avoid the pitfalls of
plagiarism as they continue their studies and allow them to enjoy and respect
the work of the nations writers in the years ahead."

ALCS is sponsoring specific pages on the dedicated medals website and
'shadowing' website. This year it has also promoted a copyright competition
open to all 'shadowers'. Prizes included tickets to the Winners' Ceremony at
the British Library today and school or library visits from former Carnegie
Medal winning authors.

ALCS has worked with CILIP in the design of an easy to use education pack
on copyright for teachers, librarians and students available to download from
http://www.ckg.org.uk/shadowing. Developed by educational writer, Susan
Elkin, the packs offer lesson plans and fun ideas to introduce young people
from ages 5-18 years to copyright and intellectual property rights. It helps
them understand why these rights are important, how they benefit from them
and how, by respecting these rights, they help writers in all mediums to keep
writing.

"We're delighted with the take up on the copyright pack and the number of
entries for the copyright competition this year," says Mark Taylor, Marketing
Manager, CILIP. "We are always looking for ways to expand the site and make
it as relevant and interesting as possible. The sponsorship from ALCS has
supported our aim by offering another dimension to all those working with
young people, books and writing."

Following the announcement of the shortlists for both medals on 18 April,
registrations for the CILIP Carnegie & Kate Greenaway shadowing scheme have
rocketed to over 90,000. Between the shortlists' announcement and the
winners' ceremony on 26 June, 3,500 reading groups will read all the
short listed titles, discuss them and decide their own choice for the best
books of 2008. There are animated discussions, strongly held opinions and
friendly disagreements at home, at school, in the library and on the
internet. The shadowing scheme not only involves reading; it sparks all kinds
of creative activity around books including drama interpretations and video
making, cookery, discussions about multiculturalism in literature and now
copyright as well.

Notes for Editors

About ALCS: ALCS collects fees on behalf of the whole spectrum of UK
writers: novelists, film & TV script writers, literary prize winners, poets
and playwrights, freelance journalists, translators and adaptors, as well as
thousands of professional and academic writers who include nurses, lawyers,
teachers, scientists, and college lecturers. All writers are eligible to join
ALCS: further details on membership can be found at http://www.alcs.co.uk

The Society collects fees that are difficult, time-consuming or legally
impossible for writers and their representatives to claim on an individual
basis: money that is nonetheless due to them. Fees collected are distributed
to writers twice a year in March and September. Since its inception, ALCS has
distributed over GBP170 million to the nation's writers.

Contact information: ALCS, The Writers' House, 13 Haydon Street, London
EC3N 1DB Tel: +44(0)20-7264-5700; email alcs@alcs.co.uk. Website:
http://www.alcs.co.uk

ALCS - Sources of Income: ALCS has developed highly specialised knowledge
and sophisticated systems which track writers and their work (both print and
audiovisual) against various secondary uses for which they are due payment.
The main sources of fees due are secondary royalties from: photocopying
(through the Copyright Licensing Agency which is jointly owned by the ALCS
and the Publishers Licensing Society); international Public Lending Right;
cable retransmission; fees from the Educational Recording (ERA) and sources
such as blank tape and machine levies for private copying and small
miscellaneous literary rights).

ALCS - The International Picture: the Society is recognised
internationally as a leading authority on copyright matters and authors'
interests. It maintains a close watching brief on all matters affecting
copyright both in the UK and around the world and makes regular
representations to the UK government and to the European Commission. ALCS
pays royalties to member writers based in 137 countries around the globe.
ALCS has reciprocal arrangements with over 50 collecting societies around the
world.

CILIP CARNEGIE & KATE GREENAWAY MEDALS

CILIP - The Chartered Institute of Library & Information Professionals is
the leading professional body for librarians, information professionals and
knowledge managers. CILIP annually funds and administers the Carnegie Medal
awarded for an outstanding work of fiction for young people and its sister
award for an outstanding work of illustration, the Kate Greenway Medal.

For further information on the shortlists, the winners and the
'shadowing' scheme please see http://www.ckg.org.uk For further information
on CILIP please see http://www.cilip.org.uk