Copyright Law In An Age Of Limitations And Exceptions

In this book, leading scholars analyze the important role played by copyright exceptions in economic and cultural productivity.

Copyright Law in an Age of Limitations and Exceptions brings together leading copyright scholars and the field's foremost authorities to consider the critical role of copyright law in shaping the complex social, economic, and political interaction critical for cultural productivity and human flourishing. The book addresses defining issues facing copyright law today, including justifications for copyright law's limitations and exceptions (L&Es), the role of authors in copyright, users' rights, fair use politics and reform, the three-step test in European copyright law, the idea/expression principle with respect to functional works, limits on the use of L&Es in scientific innovation, and L&Es as a tool for economic development in international copyright law. The book also presents case studies on the historical development of the concept of 'neighboring rights' and on Harvard Law School's pioneering model of global copyright education, made possible by the exercise of L&Es across national borders.

Over the course of several decades, copyright protection has been expanded and extended through legislative changes occasioned by national and international developments. The content and technology industries affected by copyright and its exceptions, and in some cases balancing the two, have become increasingly important as sources of economic growth, relatively high-paying jobs, and exports. Since the expansion of digital technology in the mid-1990s, they have undergone a technological revolution that has disrupted long-established modes of creating, distributing, and using works ranging from literature and news to film and music to scientific publications and computer software. In the United States and internationally, these disruptive changes have given rise to a strident debate over copyright's proper scope and terms and means of its enforcement-a debate between those who believe the digital revolution is progressively undermining the copyright protection essential to encourage the funding, creation, and distribution of new works and those who believe that enhancements to copyright are inhibiting technological innovation and free expression. Copyright in the Digital Era: Building Evidence for Policy examines a range of questions regarding copyright policy by using a variety of methods, such as case studies, international and sectoral comparisons, and experiments and surveys. This report is especially critical in light of digital age developments that may, for example, change the incentive calculus for various actors in the copyright system, impact the costs of voluntary copyright transactions, pose new enforcement challenges, and change the optimal balance between copyright protection and exceptions.

This book addresses the key issues, challenges and implications arising out of changes in the copyright law and corresponding judicial responses. Using concrete examples, the book does not assume any prior knowledge of copyright law, but brings together leading intellectual property researchers to consider the significant role of copyright law in shaping the needs of the modern digital world. It provides an insight into two distinct arenas: copyright and digital media. The exponential increase in the ability to multiply and disseminate information by digital means has sparked numerous conflicts pertaining to copyright – and in turn has prompted lawmakers to expand the scope of copyright protection in the digital age. Bearing in mind the new questions that the advent of the digital age has raised on the role and function of copyright, the book presents a collection of papers largely covering new frontiers and changing horizons especially in this area. The contributions intensively address core issues including the exhaustion principle, copyright and digital media, liability of hosting service providers, the originality requirement, accessibility to published works for the visually disabled, criminalization of copyright infringement, and software protection under copyright law, among others. Consisting of 14 papers, this book will be equally interesting to researchers, policymakers, practitioners and lawmakers, especially those active in the field of Intellectual Property Rights (IPR).

This comprehensive international and comparative account reconceptualises the public domain, providing new insights into copyright and copyright law reform.

In the summer of 2012, the Supreme Court of Canada issued rulings on five copyright cases in a single day. The cases represent a seismic shift in Canadian copyright law, with the Court providing an unequivocal affirmation that copyright exceptions such as fair dealing should be treated as users’ rights, while emphasizing the need for a technology neutral approach to copyright law. The Court’s decisions, which were quickly dubbed the “copyright pentalogy,” included no fees for song previews on services such as iTunes, no additional payment for music included in downloaded video games, and that copying materials for instructional purposes may qualify as fair dealing. The Canadian copyright community soon looked beyond the cases and their litigants and began to debate the larger implications of the decisions. Several issues quickly emerged. This book represents an effort by some of Canada’s leading copyright scholars to begin the process of examining the long-term implications of the copyright pentalogy. The diversity of contributors ensures an equally diverse view on these five cases, contributions are grouped into five parts. Part 1 features three chapters on the standard of review in the courts. Part 2 examines the fair dealing implications of the copyright pentalogy, with five chapters on the evolution of fair dealing and its likely interpretation in the years ahead. Part 3 contains two chapters on technological neutrality, which the Court established as a foundational principle of copyright law. The scope of copyright is assessed in Part 4 with two chapters that canvas the exclusive rights under the copyright and the establishment of new “right” associated with user-generated content. Part 5 features two chapters on copyright collective management and its future in the aftermath of the Court’s decisions. This volume represents the first comprehensive scholarly analysis of the five rulings. Edited by Professor Michael Geist, the Canada Research Chair in Internet and E-commerce Law at the University of Ottawa, the volume includes contributions from experts across Canada. This indispensable volume identifies the key aspects of the Court's decisions and considers the implications for the future of copyright law in Canada.

“One of the most brilliant, lucid, and readable explanations of what is increasingly America’s national treasure: our intellectual property.” —Scott Turow In Copyright’s Highway, one of the nation’s leading authorities on intellectual property law offers an engaging and intelligent analysis of the effect of copyright on American politics, economy, and culture. From eighteenth-century copyright law, to the “celestial jukebox,” to the future of copyright issues in the digital age, Paul Goldstein presents a thorough examination of the challenges facing copyright owners and users. In this fully updated second edition, the author expands the discussion to cover the latest developments and shifts in copyright law for a new audience of scholars and students. This expanded edition introduces readers to present and future debates regarding copyright law and policy, including a new chapter on the technological shift in emphasis from producer to consumer and the legal shift from exclusive rights to exceptions and limitations to those rights. From Gutenberg to Google Books, Copyright’s Highway, Second Edition, offers a concise, essential resource for the internet generation. Praise for Copyright’s Highway “Paul Goldstein’s eloquent call for a more human-centered discipline of copyright blends perception and prescription to great effect, indicating to the reader how far copyright has yet to go to help creativity flourish—and how it might cover the distance.” —Jonathan Zittrain, Harvard University “Goldstein can make the complex issues of copyright law accessible and captivating without sacrificing the nuances of law, politics, and custom that underlie them. With this second edition of Copyright’s Highway, Goldstein adds timely narratives, such as the Google Book Project, to illustrate the evolving nature of copyright law and its importance to our everyday lives.” —Marshall Leaffer, Indiana University Maurer School of Law “A much-awaited new edition of Paul Goldstein’s landmark synthesis of the history and policies of US copyright law. Goldstein’s comprehensive and deep understanding of the legal, economic, and technological interests at stake thoroughly illuminates this sensitive and accessible study. A new concluding chapter meticulously and critically examines the challenges of “competing with free” and the landscape-altering consequences of copyright’s encounter with internet platforms.” —Jane C. Ginsburg, Columbia University

This booklet is intended to provide an introduction for non-specialists or new-comers to the subject of copyright and related rights. It explains in layman's terms the fundamentals underpinning copyright law and practice. It describes the different types of rights which copyright and related rights law protects, as well as the limitations on those rights. And finally it briefly covers transfer of copyright and provisions for enforcement.