Copyright In The Age Of Online Access

" In addition to proving virtually impossible, online enforcement of copyright may be undesirable because it risks encroaching upon fundamental rights and freedoms. However, the problem remains that creators are often not fairly remunerated for the online use of their works. This book addresses the urgent need to study pragmatic legal solutions that enable Internet users to access works in the digital environment, while assuring remuneration to rights holders and promoting the development of the information society. This study examines legalisation schemes that favour remunerated access over exclusivity and enforcement for large-scale online use by individuals. It investigates whether and to what extent these schemes (referred to as alternative compensation systems) are admissible under EU copyright law and consistent with its objectives, responding to such questions as the following in depth: - What existing copyright schemes provide an alternative to the exclusive right in copyright law? - What online rights apply to the activities of Internet users? - What types of models exist for the legalisation of online use of copyright works? - How can the public interest shape the scope of protection of copyright? - Can and should we legalise non-commercial file sharing and online use in EU copyright law? The book carefully examines these questions in light of EU primary law, relevant directives (with a focus on the InfoSoc Directive), case law (especially that of the CJEU), and legal literature in the field of copyright. The analysis culminates with a proposed blueprint for a compensated limitation for non-commercial individual use that is consistent with EU copyright law. As a thoroughly researched and balanced response to the urgent need to rethink EU copyright law in light of its lack of social acceptance and technological adequacy, this book will be of inestimable value to lawyers, policymakers, and scholars in the field, as well as to interest groups involved in discussions for reform and modernisation of EU digital copyright law. "

Professor Litman's work stands out as well-researched, doctrinally solid, and always piercingly well-written.-JANE GINSBURG, Morton L. Janklow Professor of Literary and Artistic Property, Columbia UniversityLitman's work is distinctive in several respects: in her informed historical perspective on copyright law and its legislative policy; her remarkable ability to translate complicated copyright concepts and their implications into plain English; her willingness to study, understand, and take seriously what ordinary people think copyright law means; and her creativity in formulating alternatives to the copyright quagmire. -PAMELA SAMUELSON, Professor of Law and Information Management; Director of the Berkeley Center for Law & Technology, University of California, BerkeleyIn 1998, copyright lobbyists succeeded in persuading Congress to enact laws greatly expanding copyright owners' control over individuals' private uses of their works. The efforts to enforce these new rights have resulted in highly publicized legal battles between established media and new upstarts.In this enlightening and well-argued book, law professor Jessica Litman questions whether copyright laws crafted by lawyers and their lobbyists really make sense for the vast majority of us. Should every interaction between ordinary consumers and copyright-protected works be restricted by law? Is it practical to enforce such laws, or expect consumers to obey them? What are the effects of such laws on the exchange of information in a free society?Litman's critique exposes the 1998 copyright law as an incoherent patchwork. She argues for reforms that reflect common sense and the way people actually behave in their daily digital interactions.This paperback edition includes an afterword that comments on recent developments, such as the end of the Napster story, the rise of peer-to-peer file sharing, the escalation of a full-fledged copyright war, the filing of lawsuits against thousands of individuals, and the June 2005 Supreme Court decision in the Grokster case.Jessica Litman (Ann Arbor, MI) is professor of law at Wayne State University and a widely recognized expert on copyright law.

The Future of Copyright in the Age of Artificial Intelligence offers an extensive analysis of intellectual property and authorship theories and explores the possible impact artificial intelligence (AI) might have on those theories. The author makes compelling arguments via the exploration of authorship, ownership and artificial intelligence.

In this book, leading scholars analyze the important role played by copyright exceptions in economic and cultural productivity.

Imagine sending a magazine article to 10 friends-making photocopies, putting them in envelopes, adding postage, and mailing them. Now consider how much easier it is to send that article to those 10 friends as an attachment to e-mail. Or to post the article on your own site on the World Wide Web. The ease of modifying or copying digitized material and the proliferation of computer networking have raised fundamental questions about copyright and patentâ€"intellectual property protections rooted in the U.S. Constitution. Hailed for quick and convenient access to a world of material, the Internet also poses serious economic issues for those who create and market that material. If people can so easily send music on the Internet for free, for example, who will pay for music? This book presents the multiple facets of digitized intellectual property, defining terms, identifying key issues, and exploring alternatives. It follows the complex threads of law, business, incentives to creators, the American tradition of access to information, the international context, and the nature of human behavior. Technology is explored for its ability to transfer content and its potential to protect intellectual property rights. The book proposes research and policy recommendations as well as principles for policymaking.

This third edition of Collective Management of Copyright and Related Rights presents an in-depth revision with invaluable updates on the different systems, legislative options and best practices of CMOs worldwide. As with previous editions, the book is written to reach a wide audience, with a special focus on questions that might emerge for governments as they prepare, adopt and apply collective management norms and regulations. The edition also sheds light on new copyright and related rights developments, including digital, technological and business trends, from all over the world. Additionally, there is detailed discussion on topics such as aspects of competition, national treatment, and different models of collective management.

Over the course of several decades, copyright protection has been expanded and extended through legislative changes occasioned by national and international developments. The content and technology industries affected by copyright and its exceptions, and in some cases balancing the two, have become increasingly important as sources of economic growth, relatively high-paying jobs, and exports. Since the expansion of digital technology in the mid-1990s, they have undergone a technological revolution that has disrupted long-established modes of creating, distributing, and using works ranging from literature and news to film and music to scientific publications and computer software. In the United States and internationally, these disruptive changes have given rise to a strident debate over copyright's proper scope and terms and means of its enforcement-a debate between those who believe the digital revolution is progressively undermining the copyright protection essential to encourage the funding, creation, and distribution of new works and those who believe that enhancements to copyright are inhibiting technological innovation and free expression. Copyright in the Digital Era: Building Evidence for Policy examines a range of questions regarding copyright policy by using a variety of methods, such as case studies, international and sectoral comparisons, and experiments and surveys. This report is especially critical in light of digital age developments that may, for example, change the incentive calculus for various actors in the copyright system, impact the costs of voluntary copyright transactions, pose new enforcement challenges, and change the optimal balance between copyright protection and exceptions.

Examines how copyright can evolve without compromising the interests of authors, users and those who connect them.

This book focuses on the thorny and highly topical issue of balancing copyright in the digital age. The idea for it sprang from the often heated debates among intellectual property scholars on the possibilities and the limits of copyright. Copyright law has been broadening its scope for decades now, and as a result it often clashes with other rights (frequently, fundamental rights), raising the question of which right prevails. The papers represent the product of intensive research by experts, who employ rigorous interpretative methodologies while keeping an eye on comparison and on the impacts of new technologies on law. The contributions concentrate on the "propertization" of copyright; on the principle of exhaustion of the distribution right; on the conflict between users' privacy and personal data needs; and on the balance between copyright and academic freedom. Starting from the difficulties inherently connected to the difficult task of balancing rights that respond to opposing interests, each essay analyzes techniques and arguments applied by institutional decision-makers in trying to solve this dilemma. Each author applies a specific methodology involving legal comparison, while taking into account the European framework for copyright and related rights. This work represents a unique piece of scholarship, in which a single issue is read through different lenses, demonstrating the need to reconcile copyright with other fundamental areas of law.