The protection of copyright in the development of new digital technologies

Abstract

There is an assumption that as a type of intellectual property, copyright has become more vulnerable and at risk due to the new technologies and digital information. It can be argued that a digital world allows people to copy easier, cheaper and faster copyrighted materials, therefore increasing the threat of copyright infringement. For example any person is able to copy, reproduce or distribute to public a large number of copyright work such as music, photocopies or literary works through the internet. Recent technological advances, in particularly high-speed Internet connections have helped make the legal storage and dissemination of such works more efficient and marketable. By considering a current situation, the author raises a legal question whether a legal framework for the protection of the copyright is effective or not. To answer for the question, the author shows some problems which have been emerged around copyright such as file sharing, illicit copying and piracy and refers to a number of cases which based on Anglo-American legal system. By reviewing the legal framework against copyright infringement such as the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 (CDPA) and the Digital Millennium Copyright Act 1998(DMCA), the authors concludes that regardless of mass digitization, copyright is still considered to be an useful and appropriate protection for copyright owners.

Key words: copyright infringement, digital technologies, peer-to-peer file sharing, copying, piracy.