Interests Of Copyright Owners Research Articles

The ‘Two Suns’ of Eu Digital Copyright Law: Reconciling Rightholders’ and Users’ Interests via Interlegality

Copyright law is an emblematic example of the restless relationship between law and technology. The discipline fundamentally aims at striking a fair balance between the interests of copyright owners and users and, as the ongoing process of EU copyright reform demonstrates, digital technologies play a key role in pursuing this objective. The EU transition towards a digital-based copyright paradigm shows how achieving a balanced and context-sensitive legal framework requires taking into account elements from coexisting legal systems as well as from the technological normative ecosystem. Providing concrete examples of the intertwined nature of copyright law and digital technologies when it comes to protecting clashing interests, the article illustrates the ‘interlegal’ pattern emerging from the CJEU, which unveils a composite understanding of law and offers meaningful insights into the future of the EU digital copyright legal framework.

Study on Copyright Limitations and Exceptions for Libraries and Archives

This study of copyright exceptions for libraries and archives provides an overview of the nature and diversity of statutory provisions in the copyright law of the 184 countries that are members of the World Intellectual Property Organization. WIPO commissioned Dr. Kenneth Crews to conduct this study, and he presented the findings the WIPO delegates at a meeting of the Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights, in Geneva, Switzerland in November 2008. For the first time, it gathers library exceptions from nearly all WIPO countries and provides an analytical survey of the law. The statutory exceptions for libraries primarily address such issues as reproduction of copyrighted works for purposes such as private research and study, preservation and replacement of materials, and document supply and interlibrary lending. Some countries have statutes on the 'making available' of copyrighted works. This study also encompasses library exceptions to the prohibition against circumvention of technological protection measures.Of the 184 countries in WIPO, the research for this project collected current and translated statutes from 149 countries. Of those countries, 128 of them have at least one statutory library exception, and most of the countries have multiple statutes addressing a variety of library issues. Twenty-one countries have no library exception in their copyright law. (Three additional countries have no copyright law and hence no library exceptions: Afghanistan, Laos, and the Maldives.) These basic statistics demonstrate the widespread prevalence of library exceptions, suggesting that they play an important role in the law and in facilitating library services. The fact that statutes tend to center on pursuits such as research and preservation also suggests that copyright law has an important role in the ability of citizens to have continuing access to the rich variety of materials held in libraries.The statutes differ greatly from one country to the next. The statutes can be distinct in nearly all respects, from their scope of applicable libraries to the specific activities encompassed. Among statutes on one topic, such as reproduction of materials for research, the statutes set widely divergent standards with respect to the scope of materials that may be copied, the conditions and requirements for making the copies, the possible application of digital formats, and the circumstances under which the copies may be delivered to and subsequently used by individual researchers. These great variations among the statutes are one of the most important findings of this study, but patterns among the statutes are also evident. Some of the patterns are historical, such as the influence of British law in many countries. Other patterns are regional, such as the trend in many African countries to have either no library exception or a fairly general provision permitting libraries to make copies of works without many detailed requirements. Some patterns are the result of regional cooperation, most notably the European Union. As a result of a European Union directive from 2001, the library exceptions among the twenty-seven members of the E.U. bear some similarities to one another. Nevertheless, some E.U. countries have added their own distinctive touches to the legislation, leading to important variations among statutes drafted even in a context where harmonization of the law is a priority.The specific terms of the library exceptions reveal much about the relationship of copyright law to library services in different countries. These statutes do more than simply govern library activities. They are a reflection of cultural, historical, and economic objectives. Sometimes those objectives are in conflict with one another. The statutes are therefore often a compromise among competing interests, typically permitting libraries to make certain uses of copyrighted works, while setting limits and conditions to protect the interests of copyright owners, publishers, and other rightsholders. This study presents the law as it exists today, but it should establish a foundation for future studies related to the origins, purposes, and effects of the copyright exceptions. This study should also generate discussion about the feasibility and future of library exceptions. Many libraries may be served well by statutes allowing single copies of materials for research or limited copying for preservation. Other libraries are struggling with issues that usually reach beyond current law, such as large-scale digitization of collections and automated harvesting and collecting of Internet-based resources. The character of library exceptions today may offer good indications of the issues and complications that lie ahead as lawmakers begin to explore anew the expanding range of copyright issues affecting libraries.The full report in English, French, and Spanish is available at:http://www.wipo.int/meetings/en/doc_details.jsp?doc_id=109192

Copyright Exceptions and Digital Technology in Educational Institutions in Thailand

This article demonstrates that the copyright exceptions for educational institutions are an obstacle to the development of lifelong learning and distance education in Thailand, as well as preventing the use of digital technology in the Thai educational sector. This is because they only allow the distribution of educational materials by teachers and educational institutions to be done in a class or in an educational institution, so they cannot cover the situation where the institutions distribute such materials to distance-learning students via electronic means outside the institutions. Thus, this article proposes that the exception for educational institutions needs to be reformed in order to support the Thai government’s policy of distance education and lifelong learning. However, it also argues that the proposed changes recommended in this article, to extend the scope of the current exceptions to cover the distribution of educational materials outside the classroom for distance education, must be carried out together with the introduction of some additional measures to ensure that such changes will only have a limited impact on the incentives for creativity and the economic interests of copyright owners.

Non-Infringing Uses in Digital Sampling: The Role of Fair Use and the de Minimis Threshold in Sample Clearance Reform

In this book excerpt, the authors address the role of two major legal exceptions to copyright protection in the music industry’s practices surrounding digital sampling. Although the United States law on the books requires a balance between the interests of copyright owners and sampling musicians, the business practice has been to mandate licensing in almost every instance. Despite this hurdle to a more balanced approach to sampling, the authors discuss several benefits that might come through doctrinal or statutory reforms, or even through developing best practices for claiming fair use.

International Norms for Compulsory Licensing and the Indian Copyright Law

In the context of the Copyright Amendment Bill, 2010 of India, this paper explores the feasibility in the international context, of compulsory licence, to ensure information dissemination while safeguarding the interests of copyright owners and the Indian legal position in this respect. Though India pioneered the pressure group for ensuring recognition of compulsory licence in international norms in the discussions of the Berne Convention, it is interesting how her own laws were drafted and how the new Bill is addressing this issue. The problem of access to the information from the developed countries in the context of The Agreement on Trade‐Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS Agreement) and the interpretation to the open‐ended three‐step test to facilitate such access are the focal point of this paper.

The Audio Broadcast Flag System – Can It Be a Solution?

Responding in part to radio's ongoing digital transition, the recording industry argues that digital audio broadcasts (DAB) constitute an unprecedented threat to their business. Accordingly, the recording industry has campaigned for the government-mandated adoption of a strong technological protection measure. As a result, the FCC and Congress have been considering the adoption of the audio broadcast flag (ABF) system as a mandatory content-protection measure for DAB. This article identifies problems inherent in the adoption of the ABF system for DAB and suggests that a compulsory license system can manage the DAB matter in a more socially beneficial way by finding an appropriate balance between the interests of copyright owners and the public. Examining the two relevant existing regulations, the article then proposes policy changes that modify the regulations' compulsory license systems in regards to the DAB matter.

Copyright and Educational Policies: A Stakeholder Analysis

Copyright is accepted as being the necessary and efficient response to the need of authors and publishers to appropriate the economic value of copyright works from users. Nevertheless, difficulties arise when such works are both produced and consumed within universities. The law recognizes that copyright cannot be an absolute right and in certain circumstances, the scope of copyright protection is limited by the statute. Where educational usage of works is concerned, the British copyright law has attempted to balance the rights of the individual academic user, the duties of universities and their libraries, and the rights of the copyright owners. However, recent case-law suggests that the correct balance between the interests of copyright owners on the one hand, and the interests of education and scholarship on the other has not been achieved especially where the educator and the copyright author reside in a single individual. The article employs stakeholder analysis to discern whether there should be a re-evaluation of the law so that copyright law and policy better reflect the interests of key participants within the educational sector.

Digital Agenda Report Card: How are Libraries and the Digital Copyright Amendments getting on One Year after Commencement?

ABSTRACTThis article reviews the operation of the Copyright Amendment (Digital Agenda) Act 2000 in libraries, concentrating in particular on five areas: the ‘reasonable portion’ test; library document supply provisions (sections 49 and 50); intra-library networking (section 49 (5A)); protection from authorisation liability (section 39A); and preservation copying (section 51 A). The article suggests that some further changes could simplify library procedures without adversely affecting the interests of copyright owners.

Libraries and Copyright

Derek Fielding made a largely unheralded but very significant contribution to Australian copyright law and it is appropriate that this be recognised by a chapter on this topic in this publication.Derek was appointed a member of the Commonwealth Attorney-General's Copyright Law Review Committee when that Committee was established in 1983. He served as one of its most active and influential members until the Committee was reconstituted (and its members paid) in 1995. Prior to and during this time Derek was a member of the Australian Vice Chancellors' Copyright Committee. I was a colleague of his in both these endeavours, and to say that this was a pleasure is an understatement. Derek brought a significant and much needed users' perspective to discussions that tended to be dominated by the interests of copyright owners. His intellectual contribution to the policy issues driving copyright law added much to the CLRC's consideration of the diverse issues with which it was concerned. His thoughtful comments on d...

Fair-use guidelines: A selected bibliography

Citations focus primarily on the literature about the proposed guidelines from the Conference on Fair Use (CONFU), including background, analysis, and news coverage. CONFU literature, and indeed the literature of the fair-use guidelines developed since the early 1970s, reflect differing views on the adequacy of fair-use law, how the law may balance the needs of users and owners of copyrighted works, and the law's applicability to new technologies and media. An examination reveals the literature often lacks systematic reviews and analyses of the needs of academic users and the interests of copyright owners.

Property Rights in Cyberspace: Copyright Law in the Internet Era

ABSTRACT The rights and interests of authors, compilers, database creators and copyright owners are colliding with the rights and interests of educators, scholars, researchers, and librarians on the information superhighway. Copyright law effectively balances their competing rights and interests in traditional forms of expression and communication, but copyright's effectiveness is tested in our fast changing digital era by the ease with which ideas, information, and copyrighted materials can be reproduced, modified, linked, and transmitted to many persons in an instant. Recommendations for changes in copyright law have been made, but many persons believe that the balance is shifting too far in favor of the rights and interests of copyright owners. The debate over the appropriate balance between these competing rights and interests in cyberspace will continue with the expansion of the information superhighway.

Copyright and the publisher in a market economy

The four corners of the copyright system are the security in law of the creator; the markingout of the publisher's role as “producer”; the balance of the interests of copyright owners with those of copyright users; and enforcement of rights. To advance the system, publishers must make an economic case for copyright, explain what they actually do, publish about themselves, educate one another, and develop and exploit specialist knowledge.