This book offers a comprehensive and critical evaluation of the distribution and ownership of digital content within the EU. The analysis builds on the debate surrounding 'digital exhaustion' and is focused around three generations of supply of digital content: hardcopy sales, downloads and online access. For each generation, the supplying act and the ability to further transfer what was supplied is scrutinized in the light of EU copyright and neighbouring rights law. Going beyond a description of case law, this book highlights inconsistencies and frictions caused by the CJEU and addresses the fate for novel business models, hybrid works and neighbouring rights. Finding that copyright is only one part of the puzzle, Simon Geiregat offers broader perspectives to the transferability discussion by involving impeding digital architecture (technical protection measures) and the 'data ownership' debate, and by bringing consumer contract law and property law as well as equal treatment into the analysis. Providing a rigorous overview of the law surrounding digital content, this will be a valuable read for academics and practitioners with an interest in EU copyright and the debates on propertization and transferability in the digital context. It will also be beneficial to music and film organisations and distributors involved in supplying digital content in the European market.

Digital Content & Distance Sales analyses three legal instruments proposed by the European Commission in the context of its Digital Single Market Strategy, which has recently become one of its priorities. The proposed instruments are: (1) a directive for the supply of digital content; (2) a directive for the online and other distance sales of goods; and (3) a regulation on cross-border portability of online content services in the internal market. This book takes a combined approach of setting out the broader legislative and political context of the proposed legal instruments, giving the reader a general overview of the background and subsequent impact of the proposals, and indepth analyses of specific aspects, advantages and challenges. Through this approach, the authors offer valuable insight into key areas of legal development.This book will be useful to academics and practitioners working in contract law, particularly European contract law.