WIPO Internet Treaties Research Articles

Protecting Intellectual Property In The Digital Age With A Law

Life has changed with the development of science and technology. One technology that has a significant impact is the technology of the Internet world, the Internet introduces people to the digital world. Of course, this development also affects the law, especially copyright law. Copyrighted works that were still in a traditional form can now be converted to a digital form or digital copyrighted works can be created. In this case, copyright law, which previously protected traditional forms of copyrighted works, must evolve to include the protection of digital copyrighted works, one of which is through cooperation with technology. This research is a normative study with a focus on how copyright law, which previously protected traditional forms of copyright, must evolve to include protection of digital copyrights, one of which is through cooperation with technology. This research is a normative research with a qualitative approach that is descriptive. As technology allows the conversion of copyrighted works into digital forms, there are advantages such as the easy distribution/notification of copyrighted works, but also the ease of infringement. In view of these developments, the WIPO has issued two international treaties known as the WIPO Internet Treaties. These treaties have been adopted by several countries. Indonesia in its positive copyright law has implemented the protection of digital copyrighted works in its articles. Our copyright law needs to be further enriched to protect digital copyrighted works as suggested by the author in this study

The implementation of rights management information provisions in WIPO internet treaties: a comparative law perspective

With the rapid development of information technology, intellectual property protection in the digital environment has gradually become a critical issue. WIPO Internet Treaties have included new provisions for digital intellectual property protection since 1996, which require all the members to provide adequate and effective legal remedies for rights management information (RMI). However, WIPO Internet Treaties only afford a basic framework, leaving much discretion for members to decide how to implement their treaty obligations. The domestic protection of RMI generally differs in five aspects: definition of RMI; the scope of prohibited acts; knowledge elements; exceptions of liabilities; and legal remedies. By examining the RMI provisions in WIPO Internet Treaties and their implementation in jurisdictions, this article focuses on the perceived flaws, puzzles, and problems that the RMI provisions may cause, and speculates on the effectiveness of the RMI provisions in accomplishing predetermined goals.

The Origin and Purpose of Legal Protection for the Integrity of Copyright Metadata

Rights management information is copyright metadata legally protected by copyright law. The origin of such protection was a United States policy for governance of the information superhighway (the internet) and digital networks. The main discussion documents leading up to the WIPO internet treaties reveal that the policy behind protecting the integrity of copyright metadata was aimed at higher objectives of public interest, such as consumer protection, market efficiencies, and authenticity of creative content. Copyright management information was envisaged as one element of digital infrastructures for creating global electronic commerce, but digital copyright was also foreseen as important for the dissemination of cultural heritage. Today these infrastructures have become a reality through legislation on orphan and out-of-commerce works in Europe, and for the licensing and distribution of royalties for musical works and sound recordings in the US. Countries that implement the WIPO treaties or transplant the US law without considering the whole policy behind the protection of copyright metadata are falling into a copyright management gap because, globally, the discovery, visibility, compensation, and monetisation of local content from places without adequate digital rights metadata infrastructures will be more challenging. This article shows that US digital dominance is codifying and writing the DNA of cultural content.

O‘ZBEKISTON QONUNCHILIGI VA XALQARO SHARTNOMALARDA MUALLIFLIK HUQUQI VA TURDOSH HUQUQLARNI RAQAMLI MUHITDA MUHOFAZA QILISHGA DOIR HUQUQIY NORMALAR

The article deals with the problems associated with ensuring the legal protection of objects of copyright since the last quarter of the twentieth century and related rights in information and communication networks and, in turn, issues related to the constant maintenance of a balance between authors (right holders) and users are discussed. It is known that in 1996 the World Intellectual Property Organization adopted 2 important documents - “Internet Treaties” - to ensure the legal protection of copyright and related rights on the Internet. It was the adoption of these documents that had a serious impact on the countries of the world, making the necessary changes to their national copyright laws. At the same time, in the last 20-30 years, the rules for ensuring the copyright protection and related rights in the digital environment have taken place among other international and regional documents related to the field. It should be noted that the national copyright legislation of Uzbekistan also reflects the norms of the legal protection of works on the Internet and telecommunication networks. The article discusses these aspects and the problems of applying existing norms in practice. Theoretical and comparative analyzes were also carried out based on the norms of international conventions (“Bern Convention”, “Rome Convention”) and agreements (“WIPO Internet treaties”, TRIPS Agreement) and doctrinal sources. The article also discusses the analysis of such concepts as “the digital environment”, “digital technologies”, “multimedia”, and “cyber environment” and their essence. As a result of discussions, conclusions are drawn about the need to ensure the protection of copyright and related rights in the digital environment in Uzbekistan, legal mechanisms, issues of the practical application of the norms of “Internet contracts”, and the role of organizations managing property rights on a collective basis.

A primer on performers’ rights—for the sixth time

Richard Arnold, currently serving at the Court of Appeal, also known as one of the most experienced judges of IP cases in UK, published the first edition of his seminal monograph on performers’ rights in 1990. Since then, the system of copyright law and related/neighbouring rights has gone through enormous changes. On the one hand, this is due to the rapid advancement of technologies, especially the internet (which coincidentally emerged around the time the first edition of Arnold’s book came out). On the other hand, this field of law went through significant harmonization both at the regional level (especially in the European Union) and at the international forum (mainly via the Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights Agreement and the World Intellectual Property Organization [WIPO] Internet Treaties). Well, the original WIPO Internet Treaties (namely, the Copyright Treaty and Performances and Phonograms Treaty) did not provide a complete coverage of performers’ interests though. Until the conclusion of the Beijing Treaty, performers’ rights were lagging behind copyright holders’ and related rightholders’ (other than performers’) rights. Needless to say, they are still several steps behind those stronger rightholders, but more on this later.

Moral rights and their position in the digital world

The proliferation of technology and the internet has made moral rights more vulnerable than ever. Although the digital age plays a significant role in disseminating culture to a larger audience, the online environment also comes with a threat to the author’s personal interests. Their “spiritual children” are more easily under attack. However, under international law, moral rights have not been considered duly. The Berne Convention, the TRIPS Agreement, WIPO Internet Treaties, and even EU Harmonize Directives all shy away from the moral rights issue in the “Digital age”. In an era when technology is developing faster than the laws regulating it, the exigency for moral rights development in copyright law must be paid more attention. This paper examines how the internet influences the protection of moral rights and to what extent it has made them more susceptible.

The Bollywood Amendments: Film, Music and Indian Copyright Law (2010 to 2012)

One of the key objectives of the amendments made to the Indian copyright statute in 2012 was to protect the authors of underlying works in films (such as scriptwriters, lyricists and music composers) from exploitation by effecting extensive structural changes to the Indian Copyright Act, 1957, and, consequently, in the workings of India’s film and music industry. The other objectives were to ‘update’ India’s copyright statute to cause it to be compliant with the WIPO Internet Treaties (which India has not signed), and to ‘update’ it to bring it into consonance with new technological developments. The 2012 amendments therefore cover a wide range of subjects including the exhaustion of rights, the regulation of copyright contracts and the role of copyright societies; this paper examines the provisions of the 2012 amendments which affect the film and music industry, and, taking into consideration the factual background, explores whether the amendments are likely to realise their objectives.

The origin and development of a moral rights regime in India

The evolution of a moral rights regime under the Indian Copyright Act 1957 has been gradual, iterative and author-friendly. It has evolved based on national cultural perspectives and also India’s obligations under the international copyright conventions and treaties to which it is a member. Indian courts have upheld the claims of authors’ moral rights in India and they have also recognized authors’ personal, social and cultural rights associated with their creative works. It has taken into account emerging technological and other developments, which affect moral rights of creators. The Indian moral rights regime identifies moral rights of authors and performers as absolute, perpetual, inalienable, imprescriptible, non-assignable, non-transferrable and non-waivable. The similarity between the language of moral rights provision in the Act and the relevant provisions under the Berne Convention and the ‘WIPO Internet Treaties’, namely the WIPO Copyright Treaty 1996 and the WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty 1996, is apparent and discernible. India’s moral rights regime is akin to the dualistic French system in treating the duration of moral rights as perpetual rights.1 However, the Act provides for certain exceptions to moral rights of both authors and performers in the public interest.

Hukum dan Teknologi: Model Kolaborasi Hukum dan Teknologi dalam Kerangka Perlindungan Hak Cipta di Internet

The main issues in this research include: first, what the legal issues and cases are related to the protection of copyright on internet? Second, how is the development of the copyright protection recently? Third, is the collaboration of law and technology as the model of copyright protection on internet? This research was conducted by using the normative legal method. The result of the research showed some conclusions: first, the presence of internet has brought a negative impact on the attitude and behavior of human. Such negative impact is reflected with the increasing cases of copyright infringement. Therefore, the issue of copyright protection on internet becomes one of crucial issues. Second, recently, the copyright protection on internet can be done through technology approach or legal approach. If these two approaches are conducted separately, then the copyright protection on internet is found very difficult to be realized. To realize the copyright protection, then the model of the collaboration between the technology approach and legal approach becomes something certain. Third, the instrument of the copyright protection in internet collaborates between the technology and legal approach as seen in the regulation in Article 11 and 18 WIPO Internet Treaties and in some other countries such as United States and Indonesia.

Permission to Click: Making Available via Hyperlinks in the European Union after Svensson

This article provides an analysis of recent European Union (EU) copyright cases regarding the nature and scope of communication rights, as applied to the issue of copyright liability for hyperlinking with a particular focus on the preliminary ruling of Svensson (C-466/12). The article contemplates the implications of the judgment of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) for future legal interpretation and, more broadly, for the state of copyright in the digital age. It also links the evolving practices with the pertinent international law, in particular with the WIPO Copyright Treaty (WCT) and the WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty (WPPT), together known as the WIPO Internet Treaties.

Rightholder as the Center: The DRM System in Copyright after so Many Years

Copyright holder as the center consists of two routes: a copyright holder is able to claim for remedy under copyright law and protect his work by law enforcement. On the other hand, he can employ technology to control the access to copyrighted works and enforce copyright by private implementation. Although the law enforcement is powerful and overwhelming, private implementation usually provides copyright owners with cheaper and flexible option than expensive and time-consuming judicial procedure.The digital rights management, also known as DRM, is a set of access control technologies which widely adopted by copyright owners. Major content providers such as Apple, Amazon, and Sony employ the DRM to control not only copying, but the distributing, printing, and altering of works or devices. From the perspective of copyright owners, the DRM provides another layer of security on their exclusive rights. Specifically, the DRM with accompanied technologies enable copyright owners to expand their copyright-like protection and strengthen the exclusive control on their digital works. However, the enhanced level of protection and control often leads to severe tension between copyright owners and online users because users’ freedom and experiences on works are greatly affected and limited.On the other hand, DRM is not flawless and the circumvention to DRM protected works are frequently occurred due to the technological loopholes. Therefore, DRM legislation on prohibition over the circumvention of DRM system become the second layer of protection regarding the efficiency of DRM system. In domestic perspective, the US, EU, and China respectively enacts own statutes on regulating the circumventions of DRM technology. In international area, the WIPO Internet Treaties (WCT) and Performances and Phonograms Treaty (WPPT) both introduced the protection on technological measures and rights management information.The twofold protection provided by DRM system in fact break the balance between copyright owners and online users. Being the center in copyright realm, copyright owners enjoy unprecedented power with the aid of digital technologies and legislation. However, DRM system is not as reliable and sustainable as design. Industrial practice in online music, eBooks, and PC games provides mixed results with respect to the efficiency of DRM system. Generally, the public are oppose to the implementation of DRM in online works, while the proponents such as copyright owners and third-party licensors gradually switch their stance from absolute enforcement of DRM to flexible offering DRM works to online users. Accordingly, the DRM system become less reliable and unpromising to online copyright enforcement compared to other enforcement strategies. To reach a more certain and clear conclusion, this paper looks into the DRM system with its industrial experiences in various areas.

Transatlantic Copyright Comparisons: Making Available via Hyperlinks in the European Union and Canada

This paper provides a timely comparative analysis of recent Canadian and European Union (EU) copyright cases regarding the nature and scope of communication rights, as applied to the issue of copyright liability for hyperlinking. It links these evolving practices with the pertinent international law, in particular with the WIPO Copyright Treaty (WCT) and the WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty (WPPT), together known as the WIPO Internet Treaties.

The Regulation of Creativity Under the WIPO Internet Treaties

The WIPO Copyright Treaty and the WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty (WIPO Internet Treaties) recite a need for a digital copyright framework to facilitate 'adequate solutions to questions raised by new economic, social, cultural and technological developments.' It can hardly be contested that the social and cultural developments to which the Treaties refer do not derive from the cultural or economic conditions (much less technological developments) of the developing and least-developed countries. Consistent with their predecessors, the WIPO Internet Treaties marginalize collaborative forms of creative engagement with which citizens in the global South have long identified and continue in the tradition of assuming that copyright’s most enduring cannons are culturally neutral. Recently, however, the rise of Web 2.0 and the salience of new forms of creativity mediated by digital technologies and social networking sites have exposed structural tensions in copyright laws of OECD countries similar to those which developing countries have historically raised in opposition to the Berne Convention. This Essay reviews the evolution of the WIPO Internet Treaties and argues that the framework established just over a decade ago is increasingly less relevant in addressing the challenges of creativity in the digital age. The Treaties do not provide a meaningful basis for a harmonized approach to encourage new creative forms in much the same way the Berne Convention fell short of embracing diversity in patterns and modes of authorial expression. The growing social and legal recognition of new forms of creativity enabled through digital technologies offers an important opportunity to challenge anew claims that globally mandated copyright norms can effect incentives to create that are relevant across geographical, cultural and technological boundaries.

The potential impact of digital rights management on the Indian entertainment industry

For India, having being endowed with a rich heritage of art and culture, copyright is perceived to offer potential rewards. The entertainment industry is one of the fastest growing sectors in the Indian economy. At present, India is not a signatory to the WIPO Internet Treaties, but the government has proposed amendments to the extant legislation to incorporate Digital Rights Management (DRM) as enshrined in them. Conventionally the western entertainment industry has viewed DRM as an important tool to combat piracy pervasive on the internet. DRM involves the application of a set of technical and legal mechanisms that allow copyright owners to control the access to their works, determine the types of permissible uses and terms of such uses and the ultimate distribution of their works in the digital world. With the growing popularity of Indian cinema abroad, the entertainment industry is attracting increasing foreign investment, is gradually being corporatised and thus it is felt that such investments need to be protected. DRM is considered to be one of the solutions as it prevents loss due to unlimited unauthorized reproduction of works, introduces more effective market segmentation and promotes the incentive to create, facilitating the maximum exploitation of works in the digital world. However, for India, a developing economy, such a path is to be treaded with caution. DRM is an extra‐statutory measure, with perceived potential impact on consumer privacy, innovation and limiting legitimate exceptions. A unique feature of the industry is that it is an extension of its dynamic indigenous folk and classical cultural tradition where the emphasis has been on adaptation and improvisation, drawing upon works in the public domain. Some experts observe that DRM poses a threat to such a tradition by artificially restricting the public domain.This paper explores the likely impact of the proposed introduction of the DRM provisions in the Indian Copyright Act, 1957 with its focus on Bollywood and the related music sector. Given the tension surrounding DRM, this paper examines the aforementioned issues, taking into consideration the promotion of the underlying objectives of copyright law. Noting that the case for strong copyright protection as a key for innovation is highly debatable, this paper argues that India should keep in mind the flexibilities under law as provided by various international treaties and in technology before adopting the DRM approach.

Legal Frameworks and Technological Protection of Digital Content: Moving Forward Towards a Best Practice Model

The increased ability to copy and distribute information, knowledge, and entertainment in the digitally networked age has provoked a series of responses. In order to gain back control, copyright holders have made use of so-called technological protection measures (TPM) - including, for instance, Digital Rights Management (DRM) schemes - that are aimed at regulating the copying, distribution, and use of and access to digital works through code (code is law). Activists, in turn, have immediately taken counter-measures and designed tools that enable the hacking of technological protection measures such as copy and access controls. In response, law makers at both the international and national level have enacted legal provisions aimed at banning the act of circumvention of TPM on the one hand and the production and dissemination of circumvention tools on the other hand. Prominent examples of such legislation, among others, are the WIPO Internet Treaties (WCT art. 11 and WPPT art. 18), the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA sec. 1201), the European Copyright Directive (EUCD, art. 6 and art. 8), and the respective implementations of the EUCD into the laws of EU Member States. Against this backdrop, this paper takes it as its baseline that many countries have already enacted legislation or will soon legislate on TPM in order to comply either with international obligations under WIPO, or with international free trade agreements involving a party that has powerful content industries such as the U.S. Thus, the immediate question before us is no longer whether the second and third layer of protection of digital works is appropriate or viable. Rather, at this stage, attention should be drawn to the alternative design choices that remain with countries that face the challenge of drafting or revisiting a legal regime aimed at protecting TPM. Consequently, the purpose of this paper is to identify different legislative and regulatory approaches and to discuss them in the light of previous experiences with TPM legislation in the U.S. and in Europe. Ultimately, the paper seeks to formulate basic design (or best practice) principles and to sketch the contours of a model law that aims to foster innovation in the digitally networked environment and minimize frequently observed spillover effects of TPM legislation.

Business implications of anti-circumvention legislation and recommendations

This article will introduce and compare the anti-circumvention provisions in both the WIPO Internet Treaties and the US Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). Then, it will explore the major problems of the DMCA anti-circumvention provisions and their negative impacts for computer security professionals (such as financial cryptographers, and researchers of the cryptology community), new copyright creators and public users, by referring to some recent cases and examples. Finally, it will offer specific suggestions for the reform of the US anti-circumvention legislation. It will argue for establishing broad exemptions for anti-circumvention rules, and strengthening the controls on technological measures in order to strike fair balance of benefits for all interested parties (copyright holders, computer security researchers, new creators, and public users) in anti-circumvention legislation.

Moral Rights in Information Technology: A New Kind of 'Personal Right'?

Should the moral rights of authors be protected in works of new technology that are characteristic of the ‘Digital Age’? This question has not been widely considered in international copyright developments. The major processes of internationalization in copyright law, including the Berne Convention, TRIPs Agreement, EU harmonization directives, and WIPO Internet Treaties, all side-step the issue of moral rights in technological works. Instead, there appears to be a tacit consensus in the international community that moral rights are somehow inappropriate to technological creation — but this question has yet to be subjected to rigorous policy analysis. This paper examines the relevance of moral rights to two areas of new technology. First, it considers the applicability of moral rights to computer programs; secondly, it explores moral rights in new kinds of artistic works that make use of technological elements in their creation, performance, or exhibition. It suggests that some form of moral rights protection may well be appropriate to technological works. However, the moral right of the ‘Digital Age’ should not only reflect the special characteristics of technological creation; it should also accommodate the remarkable diversity of human creativity in the environment of new technology.

Global Solutions to Prevent Copyright Infringement of Music Over the Interne. The Need to Supplement the WIPO Internet Treaties with Self-Imposed Mandates

Global Solutions to Prevent Copyright Infringement of Music Over the Interne. The Need to Supplement the WIPO Internet Treaties with Self-Imposed Mandates