The Use of Streaming to Access Digital Content in Australia and Challenges to Copyright Law: An End-User Perspective

Abstract

The rising popularity of streaming has resulted in a revolutionary change to how digital content, such as sound recordings, cinematographic films, and radio and television broadcasts, is used on the internet. Superseding the conventional method of downloading, using streaming to access digital content has challenged copyright law, because it is not clear whether end-user acts of streaming constitute copyright infringement. These prevailing grey areas between copyright and streaming often make end-users feel doubtful about accessing digital content through streaming. It is uncertain whether exercising the right of reproduction is appropriately suited for streaming, given the ambiguities of “embodiment” and scope of “substantial part”. Conversely, the fair dealing defence in Australia cannot be used aptly to defend end-users’ acts of streaming digital content, because the use of streaming to access digital content rarely falls within the defences specified under fair dealing. When considering a temporary copy exception, end-users are at risk of being held liable for infringement when using streaming to access a website that contains infringing digital content, even if they lack any knowledge about the content’s infringing nature. Moreover, the grey areas in circumventing geo-blocking have made end-users hesitant to access websites through streaming because it not clear whether technological protection measures apply to geoblocking. End-users have a severe lack of knowledge about whether they can use circumvention methods, such as virtual private networks, to access streaming websites without being held liable for copyright infringement. Despite the intricacies between copyright and access to digital content, the recently implemented website-blocking laws have emboldened copyright owners while suppressing end-users’ access to digital content. This is because the principles of proportionality and public interest have been given less attention when determining website-blocking injunctions. This thesis examines the challenges posed to Australian copyright law by streaming, from the end-user perspective. It argues that continuous attempts to adapt traditional copyright principles into streaming, a novel technological advancement, are futile. This thesis compares the Australian position with the European Union and United States to draw lessons from them, regarding how they have dealt with streaming and copyright. By critically examining the technological functionality of streaming and the failure of copyright enforcement against the masses, it argues for strengthening end-user rights. Although it is difficult to reach copyright equilibrium by counterpoising copyright owners’ interests with copyright users’ interests, this thesis argues that deploying an appropriate balance is pivotal to expand end-user rights. This analysis of the current copyright law regime, from the end-user standpoint in respect to novel technologies such as streaming, opens up new terrain for future research, on how copyright law should address new technologies to benefit society.