UK government produces numbingly boring cartoon defending rights of copyright proprietors

Britain's Intellectual Property Office admits that its cartoon informing children about copyright infringement is "dry and niche," despite exciting scenes such an old man in a suit explaining intellectual property and a goatlike charicature of popular singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran.

The Intellectual Property Office is leading the government's efforts to crack down on internet piracy and protect the revenues of Britain's creative industries.

The government agency is spending 20,000 of its own money on the latest Nancy campaign, which is part-funded by the UK music industry.

Catherine Davies, head of the IPO's education outreach department, which already produces teaching materials for GCSE students, admitted IP was a "complex subject" for small children and something of a challenge to make accessible and entertaining.

Some fear, the BBC reports, that the campaign is so numbing and heavy-handed its message about piracy "could backfire." [via Tim Cushing]