•  
  •  
 

Abstract

The first part of this article will focus on the background of copyright law and its expansion in the digital age. The development of copyright law in the United States will be discussed along with a focus on current case law that has applied copyright law to the Internet and advancing technologies. Part I will also look into the expansion of copyright protection to an international level, including the creation of WIPO and the WIPO Copyright Treaty. Finally, Part I will discuss the popular trend of how consumers use the Internet to access digital copyrightable material. The second part of this article will focus on one hand how television networks (Networks), as copyright holders, use the rising popularity of Internet streaming to their benefit. Alternatively, it will also focus on how these Networks also hinder themselves in the precautions that they set forth, such as region locking (also called "geo-blocking") and delayed viewing for certain areas of the world. Due to the "precautions" used, this part will also highlight how these methods hurt, rather than help, these copyright holders. This section will discuss arguments for and against geo-blocking. Additionally, the section will consider the legality and rationality of geo-blocking and the use of circumvention measures. Finally, the third part of this article will discuss how the Industry should change to keep up with social change. Industry change would achieve two main goals. The first goal is to keep up to date with changing technology and the way that people use the Internet. The second goal is to reduce the amount of piracy that occurs. This will in turn help copyright holders reclaim lost profits in both advertisement revenue and the purchasing of television programs. This section will also discuss how some of this change is already occurring with international organizations.

Download

Share

COinS