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Software and eCommerce are inseparable part of each other. The main thrust of the thesis is to discover a suitable legal and technological measures for curbing software in eCommerce and find out compatibility of the existing curbing measures with human rights. The WIPO Copyright treaty, the Berne Convention, the TRIPS Agreement and other international laws on copyright, patent and software have been discussed in relevant places. Information and statements from the papers prepared by WIPO on digital right management, eCommerce, and copyright have been frequently used in the thesis with proper citation. Since the U.S.A is the pioneer in the software industry and eCommerce therefore particular attention has been given on the U.S. legal system. A considerable number of relevant cases from the U.S. jurisdiction have been discussed in relevant chapters of the thesis. The European law and British law also have been discussed with limited number of case references. Since Bangladesh is a developing country&semic the relevant copyright law of Bangladesh and its prospect in software industry also has been discussed briefly. The thesis is divided in 7 chapters. A summary of each chapter has been given below. Chapter 1: Introduction: It contains a brief introduction of the issues discussed in the thesis and explanations regarding software, eCommerce, kinds of software infringements, gravity and consequence of software piracy in eCommerce, permitted actions in respect of software, jurisdiction, choice of law and enforcement issues etc. Chapter 2: Internet Piracy a Grave Challenge: In this chapter how Internet piracy of software takes place is explained with example and case reference from the U.S. jurisdiction. Chapter 3: Software Patenting vis-a-vis Copyright: A comparative discussion between software patenting and copyright protection for software takes place in this chapter. The relevant laws of the U.S. jurisdiction and European jurisdiction have been discussed with important case references of the respective jurisdiction. It is also discussed whether these two types of protection for software are conflicting or complementary. Chapter 4: Regulatory Framework for Curbing Piracy: In this chapter basically copyright law relating to software has been discussed. Relevant provisions regarding software from international copyright Law like the Berne Convention, WIPO Copyright Treaty, and TRIPS Agreement have been cited. EC Software Directive, Copyright Directive and eCommerce Directive, Statutory law and case law of the U.S. jurisdiction, the UK jurisdiction have been discussed here. Chapter 5: Technological Protection Measures: Technological protection measure in Australia, anti circumvention provision in WIPO Copyright Treaty, Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) of the U.S.A., Limitations and exceptions of DMCA, EC Copyright Directive and limitations and exceptions of the Copyright Directive, Rights management information etc. have been discussed. Chapter 6: Compatible Human Rights: What are the bases of the relationship between IPR and human rights, which provisions of the relevant international IP law and different national jurisdictions are upholding human rights have been discussed here. Relevant case law has been cited from the U.S. jurisdiction to show that the court did not find the anti circumvention provisions of the DMCA unconstitutional and opposed to the right to freedom of expression. It has been shown in this chapter that there is no real conflict between human rights like freedom of expression and curbing measures of software piracy in eCommerce. Chapter 7: Conclusion and Recommendations: Concluding comments and Specific recommendations have been given to curb software piracy in eCommerce and develop human rights values in IPR protection.

From Fair Use to Exemption Peter Decherney (bio) The text of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) of 1998 acknowledged that it had the potential to harm fair use. So the drafters of the DMCA inserted a safety valve. Where fair use is harmed, exemptions can be made. [End Page 120] But the process for creating exemptions is long and laborious. The U.S. Copyright Office has been empowered to review requests for exemptions every three years, and the review process can take close to a year to complete. The exemptions then need to be renewed at every triennial rulemaking, so if you are lucky enough to get an exemption, you must spend one-third of your time keeping it. To date, very few exemptions have been granted; indeed, there are currently only four, all very narrow.1 In November 2005, along with two colleagues from the University of Pennsylvania and the help of two American University law students, I requested an exemption for media professors making clips from DVDs for use in classes.2 (Yes, it is currently illegal.3 ) Our request was a very small intervention in both the legislative process and the history of fair use. But the responses from academics, the Copyright Office, and especially from both Hollywood and technology manufacturers offer insight into the current state of academic fair use and the diffusion of digital media. The stakes of academic fair use are higher than ever. Media professors continue to venture into uncharted fair use territory, using digital multimedia works in their teaching, research, and publications. Hollywood and technology manufacturers, for their part, are determining how they will make money from the next wave of digital distribution. Not only are the stakes high, the timing is crucial. Fair use is the product of norms as well as laws, and the norms that are established now will determine the future of fair use. Moving towards the end of its first decade, the DMCA has already had time to change the way consumers and educators as well as Hollywood and policymakers think about digital media. The exchange of fair use for a series of carefully defined exemptions is a dramatic transformation of copyright policy. Exemptions to copyright law are not themselves new, but in the past, exemptions (for all government-produced works, for example) have existed alongside fair use. Key here is that, while the DMCA allows for exemptions to its provisions, it does not exempt fair use. Since 1998, the exchange of fair use for exemptions has moved beyond the realm of digital media encompassed by the DMCA. New legislation, for example, seeks to extend the fair use-for-exemption strategies of the DMCA to analog and broadcast technologies. In another telling example, the Australian government recently reviewed U.S. digital copyright law during a reassessment of its own copyright policies; they decided in favor of cataloging exemptions rather than adopting the broad fair use standards of the United States. Increasingly, both risk-averse gatekeepers (publishers, Internet service providers, university general counsels, etc.) and the public are becoming accustomed to licensing, contracts, and exemptions where fair use once existed. When in October 2005 Wall Street Journal technology columnist Walter Mossberg decried the state of technological restrictions on the personal use of digital media, he argued for a new, broad exemption to be written into the copyright law. Mossberg did not even bother to mention that the uses he was advocating had been covered by fair use before 1998. That is a distant memory.4 [End Page 121] How should media scholars respond to the move from a culture of fluid academic use to a culture of permission? (Media studies, after all, was built on fair use, on the ability to use media in classrooms without having to ask permission.) One answer is simply to ignore the DMCA, even if that means breaking the law. But that answer is not as simple as it once was. Technological restrictions on the use of media are making it increasingly difficult to exercise fair use. It requires both a degree of technical competence and the support of academic institutions to venture into the shaky legal territory of fair use—both...

OVER THE last four years, we Americans have lost a considerable number of our constitutionally guaranteed And the sad part is, most people didn't even notice. Even sadder, perhaps, is the fact that these were given away by the very people we elected to the Congress. Just how bad is the situation? Consider this report from a September 2001 issue of the New York Times: Responding to the arrest July Las Vegas of Dmitri Sklyarov, a 26- year-old programmer from Moscow, the Russian government issued an alert last week to the nation's computer programmers, warning them of the long arm of a 1998 American copyright law. Mr. Sklyarov, who has been free on bail since August 6 and is staying California, was arrested after he spoke at a computer hackers' convention about his program that lets readers disable software for electronic books.1 Why, you might ask, would anyone want to disable the software embedded an Adobe Acrobat electronic book anyway? I describe just two of several reasons. First, you can't get text-to- speech computer software to read an encrypted book to a visually impaired person; second, the denies us the fair we have traditionally had to items we've lawfully purchased. To understand the lost, you have to start by understanding fair use. U.S. copyright law, as it has been interpreted by the courts over the years, has always tried to balance the of an author/copyright holder and the of a user/reader, called fair use rights. For example, if you buy a conventional book, you can lend it to a friend, give it to a library, quote sized excerpts from it, and even make an archival photocopy. Other traditional fair use rights include such things as videotaping television programs to time them, making compilation CD audiodiscs for use your car, transferring music you own to an MP3 player, creating parodies of all kinds, assembling video clips of news programs for social studies classes and using them for 10 days, and so on. The fair use rights of consumers are balanced copyright law by the first sale rights of copyright owners. Once the copyright owner receives payment for a copy of his or her work, the shift to the user. These counterbalancing get all out of balance when you introduce concepts like pay per read, pay per view, and digital encryption -- all of which reduce fair If you doubt the severity of such problems, surf on over to the Digital Future Coalition website (www.dfc.org) and take a look at the 40 or so prestigious organizations that have banded together to fight for our fair Members of the DFC include the American Library Association, the Modern Language Association, and the Consumer Federation of America, to name just a few. The Electronic Frontier Foundation website (www.eff.org) is one of the most up-to-date and informative of the various sites. The mess we are today started 1998 with the passage of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). Two provisions of this complicated bill have caused the most consternation. Title I of the DMCA establishes new prohibitions Title 17 of the U.S. Code: 1) prohibition on the circumvention of technological measures used by copyright owners to control access to protected works and 2) prohibition on manufacturing or otherwise trafficking in [including discussing] a device designed to circumvent a technological measure that controls access or that protects the of the copyright owner (copy controls). The second troublesome provision of the DMCA provides for a notice and take down procedure. If a content owner reasonably believes that an online service provider is misusing copyrighted material and notifies the provider according to statutory procedures, or if the provider becomes aware of an infringement any other way, then the provider must expeditiously remove the material or disable public access to it or face severe penalties. …

Chapter 3 - Copyrights on the Internet, for Software Protection and Around the World

This thesis examines the deficiencies and omissions in the current copyright legislation in Sri Lanka in the context of the modern trend of globalisation and its impact on the copyright balance in Sri Lanka. The Intellectual Property Act 2003, which governs inter alia copyright in Sri Lanka, contains several new features such as anti-circumvention provisions that enhance protection by prohibiting the circumvention of technological protection measures used by rights owners. Initial research on enhanced protection revealed that such protection is too broad and overly favours the rights of copyright owners with too little consideration of the needs of users in a developing country like Sri Lanka. Copyright exceptions including fair use in the current copyright legislation in Sri Lanka are ill equipped to provide any meaningful assistance to users of works in the digital environment. This situation is likely to be detrimental to the interests of a developing country like Sri Lanka unless appropriate exceptions are in place. In order to address this issue five major areas are considered in this thesis. Together, these are expected to shape Sri Lankan copyright legislation to cater for the needs in the digital era: (i) the right of communication to the public; (ii) technological protection measures; (iii) fair use; (iv) access for educational purposes and (v) the tension between copyright and contract law. It is contended that it is useful for Sri Lanka to learn from the experience of other countries that have attempted solutions to problems posed by modern technology. The law reform initiatives that have taken place in Australia and the United States of America are of particular importance to Sri Lanka as certain aspects of copyright provisions in Sri Lanka are similar to the corresponding provisions in these two countries. The thesis compares the Sri Lankan copyright provisions with those of Australia and the United States of America and argues that the high degree of protection available in Sri Lanka is not appropriate for a developing country. This argument is developed to confirm the main hypothesis of the thesis that the current copyright provisions in Sri Lanka are not in the interests of the country. The thesis suggests some reforms that are urgently needed.

Geospatial digital rights management

Digital technology produced a move from a performative model to a player-as producer paradigm since it has potentiated user-generated transformative uses of intellectual works. In fact, sharing, sampling, remixing and creating new derivative content through digital network collaboration platforms are today pillars of the so-called “age of remix”. However, when unauthorized, such activities may constitute copyright infringement since the making available right and the right to make new derivative works are exclusive rights granted by copyright law. A restrictive exercise of exclusive rights may hinder the implementation of online platforms envisioned to facilitate access to knowledge and to potentiate the creation of new works. The present chapter analyzes the creation the importance of online communities of practice using free/open source software licenses like GNU GPL or Creative Commons Licenses as agents of an alternative and less rigid exercise of the powers granted by copyright law in favor of a freer system of creation and dissemination of creative works in the digital world.

Reverse Exclusion in Copyright Law - Reconfiguring Users' Rights

With the rapid development of globalization and informatization, the role of copyright law in balancing the rights and interests of creators and the public interest is becoming increasingly prominent. This article delves into the similarities and differences between the Marrakesh Treaty and China’s copyright law, particularly in terms of protecting the rights and interests of people with reading disabilities. The Marrakesh Treaty, as an important achievement of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), provides convenience for people with reading disabilities worldwide to access published works through limited copyright law modifications and exceptions. As a signatory of this treaty, China’s revision and implementation of its copyright law have a significant impact on the international intellectual property protection system. This article provides an overview of the background, core concepts, and limitations of the Marrakesh Treaty, and introduces the basic situation of China’s copyright law. By comparing the similarities and differences between the Marrakesh Treaty and China’s copyright law, this paper explores the provisions of both in protecting the rights and interests of people with reading disabilities, and proposes suggestions for improving China’s copyright law. These suggestions include clearly defining the scope of application of the treaty, expanding the definition of beneficiaries, adding cross-border transaction clauses for accessible works, reasonably avoiding technical protection measures, and strengthening the construction of implementation mechanisms and supervision systems. Although there are differences between the Marrakesh Treaty and China’s Copyright Law in protecting the rights and interests of people with reading disabilities, their common goal is to ensure that people with reading disabilities have equal access to cultural and educational materials through legal means, promote their social participation and cultural enjoyment. The revision process of China’s Copyright Law actively absorbs and transforms the provisions of the Marrakesh Treaty, demonstrating China’s efforts and determination in fulfilling international obligations, promoting social equity and inclusiveness.

Regulatory Failure of Copyright Law Through the Lenses of Autopoietic Systems Theory

The Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) and the Uniform Computer Information Transactions Act (UCITA) are two recent laws that are concerned with intellectual property and electronic media. This column gives a brief overview of these laws and the implications for libraries and librarians.

The advent of the digital milieu and the explosion of the internet has made access, use, modification or duplication of original work easy. Physical reproductions have been replaced by digital reproduction, which has become much easier as well as cost-effective. The increased use of digital technology and online activities pose a serious threat to the cardinal objective of copyright protection. To counter these threats, measures have been developed technologically to make digital works difficult to copy, distribute and access without the necessary permission. These measures are covered under the heading of Digital Rights Management (DRM). Traditional copyright laws did not contemplate these threats and does not make provision to tackle them. Several countries have amended their copyright laws to address the threats posed by digital advancement. In this context, Nigeria has a draft (amendment) bill, 2015, which is before its national assembly. This paper calls for the swift passage of the bill to enable Nigeria to effectively provide for a legal framework to counter the threats posed by these digital advancements.

In The Secret Life of Copyright, copyright law meets Black Lives Matter and #MeToo as the book examines how copyright law unexpectedly perpetuates inequalities along racial, gender, and socioeconomic lines while undermining progress in the arts. Drawing on numerous case studies, the book argues that, despite their purported neutrality, key doctrines governing copyrights-such as authorship, derivative rights, fair use, and immunity from First Amendment scrutiny-systematically disadvantage individuals from traditionally marginalized communities. The work advocates for a more robust copyright system that better addresses egalitarian concerns and serves the interests of creativity. Given that laws regulating the use of creative content increasingly mediate participation and privilege in the digital world, The Secret Life of Copyright provides a template for a more just and equitable copyright system.

Copyright Law in the Digital World

Hak cipta adalah hak pribadi, dan alasannya adalah bahwa ciptaan berasal dari ciptaan pencipta. Sebuah karya yang lahir dari pemikiran dan kreativitas penciptanya. Hak Cipta harus muncul dari kreativitas manusia, bukan sesuatu yang sudah ada di luar aktivitas atau hasil kreativitas manusia Dengan adanya perkembangan tersebut maka hukum hak cipta harus terjadi sebuah perkembangan, dahulu perlindungan ciptaan hanya pada ciptaan fisik, kini diperlukan perlindungan ciptaan digital. Rumusan masalah dalam penelitian ini ialah 1. Bagaimana perkembangan teknologi digital serta dampak pada karya hak cipta Digital? dan 2. Bagaimana Implementasi Undang-Undang Nomor 28 Tahun 2014 tentang Hak Cipta dalam dunia Digital? Penelitian ini menggunakan metode yuridis normative dan kesimpulan pada penelitian ini adalah Pentingnya HKI bagi karya-karya yang dibuat agar tidak menjadi sia-sia. Teknologi digital saat ini adalah suatu alternatif bagi para penghasil / pencipta untuk mempublikasikan hasil karyanya. Mengingat pesatnya perkembangan teknologi, para pencipta sebaiknya melakukan usaha preventif dengan mendaftarkan hasil karya/ciptaannya secara legal kepada pemerintah untuk mencegah terjadinya pelanggaran Hak Cipta, Untuk mengatasi hal tersebut hukum perlu berkolaborasi dengan teknologi, dalam hal ini teknologi yang digunakan ialah teknologi pengaman. Undang- Undang No.28 tahun 2014 tentang hak cipta telah memiliki beberapa pengaturan tentang teknologi pengaman yang perlindungannyan mencakup perlindungan hak moral dan hak ekonomi. Copyright is a personal right, and the reason for this is that the creation comes from the creator's creation. A work born of the thought and creativity of its creator. Copyright must arise from human creativity, not something that already exists outside the activities or results of human creativity with these developments, copyright law must occur a development, formerly the protection of creation only on physical creation, now requires the protection of digital creation. The formulation of the problem in this study is: 1. How is the development of digital technology and the impact on Digital copyright works? and 2. How is the Implementation of Law Number 28 of 2014 concerning Copyright in the Digital World? This research uses normative juridical methods and the conclusion of this research is the importance of IPR for works created so as not to be in vain. Digital technology today is an alternative for producers/creators to publish their work. Given the rapid development of technology, the creators should make preventive efforts by registering their works/creations legally to the government to prevent Copyright infringement, to overcome this law need to collaborate with technology, in this case, the technology used is security technology. Law No.28 of 2014 on copyright already has some arrangements on security technology whose protection includes the protection of moral rights and economic rights.