Copyright Law Enforcement in Online Environment

Abstract

Among a variety of enforcement strategies, copyright law enforcement function as strongest safeguard to control and eliminate copyright infringement. As traditional strategy, copyright law enforcement is fundamentally distinguished from the first type by DRM system. Because copyright law enforcement is primarily operated by judicial system and government agencies, such type of model is more powerful and overwhelming than the technology-based DRM system with respect to online copyright enforcement. In general, the copyright law enforcement system remedy the losses of copyright owners and punish infringement as an ex post enforcement strategy. Although both judicial system and the enforcement by government agencies require certain procedures and additional costs to copyright owners, the legal protection provided by copyright law enforcement is usually ultimate and determinative. Due to the reliability, copyright owners have long relied on copyright law enforcement as the major strategy to enforce their copyright throughout history. The copyright law enforcement is not a single definition. Rather, the law enforcement generally consists of civil remedies and criminal enforcement. Basically, civil remedies are granted by courts under judicial system pursuant to copyright statutes. Criminal enforcement, on the other hand, is the result of cooperation by government agencies and courts.