數位學習產業於二十世紀末隨著數位潮流、知識管理之風潮，而成為數位內容產業中受矚目之焦點之一，數位與網路新科技，帶動學習內容與形態的變化，技術是發展數位學習的重要推手，但從各國數位學習產業之發展以觀，學習內容的完善建置與相關產業的法制政策抶植，才能真正達到資訊化社會、平衡數位落差等目標。 本論文觀察到我國目前對於數位學習產業可能產生之著作權議題，如：數位學習教材著作權歸屬、數位學習合理使用議題及數位學習內容保護之機制與問題，現行著作權法並未已針對數位學習產業可能特殊之需求為足夠因應或修正，因此本論文參酌學界、實務界對於數位學習產業相關著作權爭議有豐富討論之美國法，由其因應前揭數位學習著作權議題所作之法制上變革，提出對我國現行法之修法建議。 在數位學習教材及課程討論內容之著作權歸屬部分，為避免著作權歸屬公平性之爭議，本論文建議有效方法之一即係以契約明文約定之，以使雙方權利義務得以有效落實；在數位學習合理使用議題之法制因應部分，本論文建議合理使用利用目的判斷導入-轉化（transformation）原則、放寬可以主張合理使用的主體及權利範圍、參酌澳洲及美國CONFU教育多媒體合理使用準則所羅列之各項標準訂立具體合理使用著作利用之比例準則；在數位學習內容保護之機制與問題部分，本論文建議將著作權法中「防盜拷措施」之名稱，修正為「科技保護措施」，以避免造成社會大眾誤認我國著作權法僅限制規範「未經授權非法重製之措施」而就規避未經授權之進入、接觸著作或前述規避行為之準備行為並不處罰，而誤入於罪，同時建議增訂行為人就第八十條之一第一項權利管理電子資訊之移除或變更行為之主觀要件及責任例外，保障人民權益。

在數位內容下載市場蓬勃發展的同時，非法傳輸的流量亦不惶多讓，是以DRM機制成為了著作權利人進入網路世界的絕佳後盾，以DRM提高複製的門檻，並據以實施其商業模式，故於各數位內容核心產業皆可見DRM應用之蹤跡，卻同時引發了究竟DRM是Digital “Rights” Management 亦或Digital “Restriction” Management的爭議。是天使？或是惡魔？便形成了人們對於DRM的不同觀感。 本研究係從技術、法律以及管理三個面向分別切入，由技術面看DRM保護著作物之極限何在，由法律面看相關科技保護措施之立法造成何種影響，合理使用的空間是否因DRM之實施而造成限縮，接著由管理面向看DRM在數位內容產業價值鏈中所扮演之角色及其與價值鏈上各端權力角力衝突之關係，最後由標準面看目前DRM相關標準的運作以及互通性標準的發展趨勢。並從個案研究觀察DRM在不同產業情境中的應用。 本研究認為，DRM技術本身是中性的，其關鍵在於商業設計運用。而在盜版問題無法完全根絕之情況下，以DRM作為因應之道將使得受限內容之經濟價值不若自由流通之內容，因為內容產業的發展關鍵在於「人氣」，而盜版永遠無法取代創意與使用者對於內容之需求。因此，既然無法防堵非法傳輸之現象，則不妨與之直接面對面進行作戰，權利人既掌握了關鍵的內容，則可以針對盜版的弱點提供更優質的服務。就我國目前數位內容產業發展之情境來看，現階段或許有採取DRM進行保護的必要性，以便在推動合法消費市場之際，平衡兼顧保護著作權人以及著作利用人之權益。然而，在虛擬世界中欲全面防堵非法散佈有其技術上之侷限性，消費者亦多半養成了免費取得之使用模式與心態，因此長期而言，或許應設法從創新的商業模式來扭轉此態勢。 / Though the use of digital rights management (DRM) has been controversial, it is still widely used in the digital world. Advocates think of DRM as an indispensable way to prevent unauthorized duplication and dissemination of copyrighted works while opponents often suggest that the term “rights” should be replaced by “restriction” to best describe how DRM works. This thesis aims to analyze the issues of DRM from three perspectives. First starting with the technical point of view to see how DRM works and found out that DRM technology does have its limitation for copyright protection. That’s the reason why treaties and legislations such as the WCT, WPPT, and DMCA are needed to build the last ditch in the war with piracy. However, the attempt backfired as companies other than rights holders used it as a way to prevent market competition. As the rights holders can effectively control the access of their work with DRM, there comes another dispute about the “Paracopyright” effect. Most important of all, the use of DRM divests the users of the rights they had in the analog world, such as simply lending a book to a friend. From the perspective of management, a cost benefit analysis indicates that the benefit of using DRM to prevent unauthorized duplication obviously overwhelms by its cost and risk. In the context where the content providers, service providers, and device manufacturers all attempt to dominate the whole value chain, DRM also became one of the most powerful instruments for that purpose. Closed ecosystems are built one after another especially in the online music industry in order to bundle the consumers with specific players and music services and thus caused the antitrust issue. The online music industry and the e-book industry were chosen as case studies in the fourth chapter of the thesis. Based on different industry context, DRM strategy and its impact would differ and therefore results in a variety of business models. For example, the consumers in the US are relatively more aware of the use of DRM and are more willing to pay for authorized content. In contrast, the awareness of DRM of consumers in Taiwan is much lower and the price they are willing to pay is also far lower than what the music labels can accept. As a result, the streaming model prevails over pay-per-download model in the online music market of Taiwan. And the feasibility and necessity of DRM also varies in different industries. Before the digitalization of books, authors already had libraries providing free copies as piracy do today, and the prevalence of scanning machines and copy machines makes it even harder to prevent illegal file sharing. Accordingly, there is far less reason to use DRM in the e-book industry than in the online music industry. DRM technology is neutral in itself, and the key point is how it is designed based on different business models. The defect of DRM is neither a technical nor a legal issue, but rather a business issue. As piracy can never be eradicated, coping it with DRM would only make the value of restricted contents much less than freely distributed contents. Popularity is what really matters in the content industry. DRM has its technical limit and causes so many legal issues accompanied with the cost and risk of maintaining such fragile systems. What rights holders have in hand are the creativity and the market’s need for new content, which could never be replaced by piracy. So why not fight it face to face? Digital content industry is considered one of the most promising industries in Taiwan. However, local consumers have entrenched mindset of “free” contents. In present context, DRM is somehow needed while promoting the growth of legal market, in order to provide sufficient incentive to enrich the society with more and more creativity, and fairly protect both the rights of content providers and content users. But in the long run, a more creative or even subversive business model should be the solution to meet the trend of digital convergence.