Copyright Law in the Digital Environment: Private Ordering and the Regulation of Digital Works

The book begins with an analysis of copyright law as it applies to the physical and digital world. The challenges that the law has to face in the digital environment are specifically addressed by illustrating how the self-regulating features of the copyright regime have been jeopardized with the advent of Internet and digital technologies. The book subsequently analyses the role of private ordering in the regulation of information and presents the various mechanisms of self-help that have been developed so far to address the challenges of the digital world. The use of end-user licensing agreements and technological measures of protection (DRM) designed to restrict the consumption of digital works beyond the scope of the copyright regime is contrasted against the use of Open Content licenses (e.g. Creative Commons) intended to support a greater dissemination and broader availability of works, amidst other goals. The book finally investigates the corresponding advantages and drawbacks of these two divergent approaches and concludes by addressing the justifications for governmental intervention in regulating or limiting the operations of private ordering.