Copyright Law And The Information Society In Asia

The book takes a look at the six most important current topics arising from copyright law in the information society, and for each topic provides an in-depth introduction that compares the approaches taken in Europe and the US. Each topic is introduced by an expert, and the issues are then analysed in separate country reports representing nine Asian jurisdictions: China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and the Philippines. The six topics are: The Expansion of Copyright Law and its Social Justification: Introduction by Reto Hilty, Max Planck Institute, Munich I.

The book takes a look at the six most important current topics arising from copyright law in the information society, and for each topic provides an in-depth introduction that compares the approaches taken in Europe and the US. Each topic is introduced by an expert, and the issues are then analysed in separate country reports representing nine Asian jurisdictions: China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and the Philippines. The six topics are: The Expansion of Copyright Law and its Social Justification: Introduction by Reto Hilty, Max Planck Institute, Munich Internet Trade, Digital Works and Parallel Imports: Introduction by Christopher Heath, European Patent Office, Munich The Collective Exercise of Copyrights: Introduction by Kung Chung Liu, Academia Sinica, Taiwan The Law on Anti-Circumvention and Digital Rights Management: Introduction by Andy Sun, National Chenchi University, Taipei, Taiwan and Zhi Wei, Peking University, Beijing Copyright Contracts, Public Policy and Antitrust: Introduction by Estelle Derclaye, Queen Mary University of London Contributory and Vicarious Liability for Copyright Infringement: Introduction by Andy Sun, National Chenchi University, Taipei, Taiwan

By examining the status of information technologies in East Asia, and the pressure to grant a level of legal protection to intellectual property owners that is hardly compatible with the present level of economic development in the region, this book offers insights into how the Internet and other digital technologies can be regulated fairly.

RIGHT-WRONG; LEGAL-ILLEGAL. Such simple binary notions cannot be used to assess issues related to intellectual property and communications. One of te key dilemmas in the field of intellectual property rights today is the need for a system that rewards innovation and creativity while encouraging the social availability and distribution of ideas in the public domain. And this is the balance that this volume sets out to strike. With the ownership of IP becoming a core feature of media/information industries and state policy, issues related to access to knowledge and its use have become a matter of critical concern. While trade regimes, the state and the core cultural and information industries have begun to advocate greater scope for a variety of knowledge enclosures, civil society is increasingly arguing for a people-centred vision of knowledge futures. This vision includes the need for equity-based and flexible licensing regimes; the legitimacy of local solutions to IP-related issues; support for cultural diversity; and access to knowledge based on need rather than the ability to pay for knowledge. The central argument of this volume is that since access to knowledge in a knowledge economy is a passport to a better quality of life, then its fair distribution and universal availability ought to become a standard norm. The articles in this volume explore the contested nature of the ownership of and access to knowledge and support it with illustrative case studies from the Asian region. Exhaustively discussed from the point of view of the dominant ‘power’ interests as also the ‘margins’ (or indigenous communities), this volume provides emerging solutions supportive of public domain.

Copyright law, digital content and the Internet in the Asia-Pacific provides a unique insight into the key issues facing copyright law and digital content policy in a networked information world.

Copyright is of considerable importance in today's global information society, and the rapid pace of technological developments has posed a significant challenge for copyright policymakers and legislators. The problems international, regional and national bodies are currently grappling with include: identifying and defining the range of rights to cover all the important economic methods of exploiting copyright works; enforcing these rights at a time when all such works have become capable of being digitized, transmitted instantaneously and, with or without authority, reproduced flawlessly and at minimal cost. Copyright in a Global Information Society examines the scope of authors' rights in relation to the exploitation of their works by broadcasting, whether terrestrial or by satellite, cabling or over computer networks, in three important jurisdictions and under relevant international conventions. The analysis traces the gradual expansion of the various exclusive rights granted by copyright law in response to technological developments and puts them in their modern context, focusing on the overarching right of public performance or communication. The author argues that the advent of modern technologies, which recognize no national boundaries, necessitate the adoption of an internationally harmonized concept of 'communication to the public' as the primary right applicable to the dissemination of copyright works in non-material form. This work is a valuable contribution to the study and understanding of copyright law and will be of great interest to academic and practising lawyers, and to those involved in shaping modern copyright policy.

Introduction Intellectual property rights foster innovation. But if, as it surely does, “intellectual property” means not just intellectual property rules—the law of patents, copyrights, trademarks, designs, trade secrets, and unfair competition—but also intellectual property institutions—the courts, police, regulatory agencies, and collecting soc- ties that administer these rules—what are the respective roles of intellectual property rules and institutions in fostering creativity? And, to what extent do forces outside intellectual property rules and institutions—economics, culture, politics, history—also contribute to innovation? Is it possible that these other factors so overwhelm the impact of intellectual property regimes that it is futile to expect adjustments in intellectual property rules and institutions to alter patterns of inno- tion and, ultimately, economic development? It was to address these questions in the most dynamic region of the world today, Asia, that we invited leading country experts to contribute studies that not only summarize the current condition of intellectual property regimes in countries ranging in economic size from Cambodia to Japan, and in population from Laos to China, but that also describe the historical sources of these laws and institutions; the realities of intellectual property enforcement in the marketplace; and the political, economic, educational, and scientific infrastructures that sustain and direct inve- ment in innovative activity. A.

In this second volume of the Applied Research Center for Intellectual Assets and the Law in Asia (ARCIALA) series, thirty-seven eminent scholars and practitioners from Asia and the United States have come together to comprehensively assess leading copyright cases from eight major Asian jurisdictions (People’s Republic of China (PRC), India, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, and Taiwan). This book contains thirty-six case reports that focus on six topics that reflect the current trends in Asian copyright law—namely, digital copyright, collective copyright (including the management of copyright and the interface between collecting societies and competition law), criminal copyright (with a discussion of criminal punishment for copyright infringement), limits to copyright (such as fair use and exhaustion), the relationship between copyright laws and other forms of protection, and choice of jurisdiction and applicable law in copyright litigation. Each case report deconstructs the legal background, facts, and rationale of the decision in a particular landmark case, and then discusses the commercial or industrial significance and application. Notably, this includes an analysis of The Hague Convention on Choice of Court Agreements and its adoption in Singapore, which is, to date, the only Asian country to have fully ratified it. Taken together, this volume presents a useful guide for copyright practitioners, professionals, lawyers, and judges alike in addition to acting as a primer for students and businessmen planning to enter Asia’s exciting world of copyright. It also serves as a handbook for policy makers, both within Asia and further afield.