Students' awareness and perceptions regarding copyright infringement

A study in a public university in Bangladesh

Abstract

Purpose: The main purpose of this study was to investigate the extent to which students of the Dhaka University are aware of the existing copyright law and its infringement.
Methodology: Students from different departments of the Dhaka University were the sample population for this study. An online survey was used for collecting data and a questionnaire was designed using Google Forms including both open and close ended questions which was distributed to the students using different social media platforms. The collected data were analyzed using SPSS software and Microsoft Excel. Chi-square and Mann-Whitney U tests were performed to analyze students’ awareness regarding copyright issues.
Findings: A total of 260 students participated in the survey. The study showed that 82.6% students are aware of copyright and 80.2% are aware of copyright infringement. 61.2% students violated copyright once or more by plagiarism, photocopy and other means particularly because of the high price and unavailability of the original materials. Most of the students opined that developing citing and referencing practice among students and introducing copyright in university curricula can help in reducing copyright infringement.
Research limitations: The study was limited to only one public university of Bangladesh because of time limitation and COVID-19 outbreak.
Practical implications: The present study can create greater awareness and respect for copyright law in the university as well as in the whole country.
Originality/value: This research is one of the first attempts to study Dhaka University students’ awareness and perceptions regarding copyright infringement and can act as the building block for future research on this topic.