Jurisprudential analysis of the rights of the users in copyrighted works

Abstract

The advent of Internet and digital technology has revolutionized the way in which people enjoy and access different forms of entertainment. The traditional television, movies, music, radio and book industries have all undergone transformation in the past 10 years through the process of digitization. But in spite of the growing popularity of online distribution of copyrighted works, there is a critical gap in the legal regime applicable to consumers of such works. The traditional protections which consumers of copyrighted works enjoyed in the form of first sale doctrine, consumer rights and fair use rights are denied to them in the digital environment. By means of various technological protection measures as well as fear of litigation, the copyright based industries are controlling the fundamental right of an individual to access such works as well as her ability to creatively deal with it. Such control mechanisms are having a chilling effect on individual freedom as well as on the cultural growth of a society. In order to sustain the benefits of Internet and other advanced technologies, and promote the growth of online market it is necessary to protect the interest of the copyright holders as well as internet consumers. It is important to confer certain rights and freedoms to the consumers so that they will have adequate confidence to take full advantage of the various benefits of online technology and participate fully in the online marketplace. Conferring the consumers with specific rights and freedoms would give them the authority to demand access to new technologies for better enjoyment of Internet without fear of adverse actions. The present era of user-generated culture and the transformation of passive consumers to active users of creative work makes it necessary to grant legal recognition and protection to the rights of users from a social, legal, commercial and humanitarian perspective. In this chapter the jurisprudential foundation of copyright law has been intrinsically deliberated for the purpose of establishing the legal premise for the rights of the users in copyrighted works. The principle the-oretical arguments are derived from the jurisprudential basis of copyright law, consumer law jurisprudence, right to access cultural works based on the human rights argument and the fundamental right arguments.