A review of the challenges facing EU copyright

Abstract

The fact that habits on how to acquire goods, make transactions or even how to keep up with friends have changed so drastically over the past few years, is mainly due to one innovation alone: the Internet. In this regard, perhaps, the most affected area is the distribution of digital content, which has been created only because of the Internet, as it cements the infrastructure needed in order to carry out such distribution. If one considers books, music, movies, magazines and software, it is easy to see how old distribution models are disappearing over time and paving the way to new businesses, which represent a new take on how these industries used to operate. Part I of this book provides a brief take on the aims thereof, which circle around assessing if the current legislation is sufficient to provide a legal framework for the proposed Digital Single Market (DSM) strategy, envisioned by the European Commission. Furthermore, it also sees how the first endeavours adopted by the Commission have been reflecting the change sought, including the recently approved Directive on Copyright in the Digital Single Market (DSM Directive), as well as similar efforts on internal market and communications (such as the agreement on the end of roaming charges).