Mass digitization of texts, images, and other creative works promises to unprecedentedly enhance access to culture and knowledge. With the electronic 'library of Alexandria' having started to materialize, a number of legal and policy issues have emerged. The book develops an extended conceptual account of the ways in which mass digital projects challenge the established copyright norms through the wholesale copying of works, their storage in cloud environments, and their automated processing for purposes of data analytics and text mining. As individual licensing is not compatible with the mass scale of these activities, alternative approaches have gained momentum as effect of judicial interpretation, legislative initiative and private-ordering solutions. This book queries the normative and policy implications of this newly emerging framework in copyright law. Adopting a cross-jurisdictional perspective, it concludes that lack of clarity as to the scope of authorial consent does not only bear the risk of legal uncertainty, but can also lead to the creation of new and not readily transparent monopolies on information and knowledge. In this respect, a new regulatory framework is outlined drawing from the insights developed in areas of law where the concept of consent in the use of data has been thoroughly elaborated. Illustrating how mass digitization unveils a number of unsettled theoretical issues within copyright, the book builds a sophisticated case that digital repositories in the mass digital age should be and remain fully-fledged public goods to the benefit of future generations.

This book offers an original analysis of private copying and determines its actual scope as an area of end-user freedom. The basis of this examination is Article 5(2)(b) of the Copyright Directive. Despite the fact that copying for private and non-commercial use is permitted by virtue of this article and the national laws that implemented it, there is no mandate that this privilege should not be technologically or contractually restricted. Because the legal nature of private copying is not settled, users may consider that they have a right to private copying, whereas rightholders are in position to prohibit the exercise of this right . With digital technology and the internet, this tension has become prominent: the conceptual contours of permissible private copying, namely the private and non-commercial character of the use, do not translate well, and tend to be less clear in the digital context.

With the permissible limits of private copying being contested and without clarity as to the legal nature of the private coping limitation, the scope of user freedom is being challenged. Private use, however, has always remained free in copyright law. Not only is it synonymous with user autonomy via the exhaustion doctrine, but it also finds protection under privacy considerations which come into play at the stage of copyright enforcement. The author of this book argues that the rationale for a private copying limitation remains unaltered in the digital world and maintains there is nothing to prevent national judges from interpreting the legal nature of private copying as a sacred privilege that can be enforced against possible restrictions.

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Private Copying "will be of particular interest to academics, students and practitioners of intellectual property law.

Defences to copyright infringement have gained increased significance over the past twenty years. The fourth industrial revolution emerged with the development of innovative copy-reliant services and business models, which have transformed the way in which copyright works can be used and re-used, spanning from digital learning methods, to mass digitization initiatives, media monitoring services, image transformation tools or content-mining technologies. The lawfulness and legitimacy of such innovative services and business methods, that arguably have the potential to enhance public welfare, is dubious and challenges copyright law. EU copyright contains diverse, yet specifically enumerated, narrowly drafted, and strictly interpreted defensive rules, often taking the form of the so-called exceptions and limitations to copyright. In addition, defendants may also deny liability by attacking one or more of the elements of infringement, by bringing forward for instance claims negating copyright subsistence or the scope of copyright protection. Because the fourth industrial revolution comes with the promise of innovation and business growth, which are stated objectives of EU copyright, it invites an examination of defensive rules as an organic whole. This book adopts such a holistic approach in its exploration of the limits of permissibility under EU copyright, including not only legislatively mentioned exceptions and limitations but also doctrinal principles and external to copyright rules with a view to unveil possible gaps and overlaps, offering a novel classification of defensive rules, and evaluating the adaptability of the law towards technological change. Discussing recent legislative developments, such as the provisions of the Digital Single Market Directive, and case law from the Court of Justice, and bringing insights from an extensive set of national laws and cases, this book tells the story of copyright from the perspective of copyright defences, offering both positivist and normative insights into law and doctrine and arguing towards a principle-based understanding of the scope of defences that could inform future law and policy making.

A uniquely practical approach to intellectual property law: unfold the problem, reveal the law, apply to life. Using this new and innovative textbook, students are given a problem scenario to unfold; as they do this they will learn to understand the key questions and issues surrounding each area of intellectual property law. As each problem is explored, clear explanations reveal the central legal concepts underpinning the relevant topic. Further illustrations and references to the problem apply the law, enabling students to see for themselves how the law interacts with everyday life and business and giving them a deep and practical understanding. Online Resources A range of additional online resources are provided online, including guidance on how to approach the questions contained in the book, regular updates on legal developments, links to useful websites, and examples of relevant documents.

This book offers an original analysis of private copying and determines its actual scope as an area of end-user freedom. The basis of this examination is Article 5(2)(b) of the Copyright Directive. Despite the fact that copying for private and non-commercial use is permitted by virtue of this article and the national laws that implemented it, there is no mandate that this privilege should not be technologically or contractually restricted. Because the legal nature of private copying is not settled, users may consider that they have a 'right' to private copying, whereas rightholders are in position to prohibit the exercise of this 'right'. With digital technology and the internet, this tension has become prominent: the conceptual contours of permissible private copying, namely the private and non-commercial character of the use, do not translate well, and tend to be less clear in the digital context. With the permissible limits of private copying being contested and without clarity as to the legal nature of the private coping limitation, the scope of user freedom is being challenged. Private use, however, has always remained free in copyright law. Not only is it synonymous with user autonomy via the exhaustion doctrine, but it also finds protection under privacy considerations which come into play at the stage of copyright enforcement. The author of this book argues that the rationale for a private copying limitation remains unaltered in the digital world and maintains there is nothing to prevent national judges from interpreting the legal nature of private copying as a 'sacred' privilege that can be enforced against possible restrictions. Private Copying will be of particular interest to academics, students and practitioners of intellectual property law.