This thesis concerns the ability of individuals to engage in transformative use of copyright expression without the permission of the copyright owner. Transformative use refers to the use of existing expression as an input into the creative process, resulting in the creation of new expression that, while still embodying elements of the original work, is original in its own right. This type of creativity is beneficial for society and should be encouraged. Individuals should have the ability to express themselves, and participate in the interpretation of their culture. My enquiry has shown that Australian law does not facilitate transformative use. Many forms of transformative expression are not currently permissible without the express permission of the copyright owner. Copyright theory, however, is not in accordance with such a prohibition on transformative use. I will suggest some legislative and judicial reforms to Australian copyright law that can have the effect of encouraging transformative expression, while at the same time providing an economic incentive to invest in creative expression and protecting the legitimate interests of creators in their works. The primary modification I suggest is that the definition of 'substantial part' in the Coypright Act 1968 (Cth) should be read, in accordance with the interests served by copyright, to allow a consideration of the context in which copyright material is taken. The seeds of such an approach are present in modern judicial interpretations; the discussion that follows attempts to show how such an approach accords with copyright theory, and why it should be preferred by the judiciary. Firstly, with respect to the economic rights, transformative uses of copyright material which are not substitutable for the original expression should not be found to reproduce a substantial part of the original. Secondly, questions of substantiality in the moral rights should be interpreted to protect authors from unreasonable commodification of their works. To the extent to which it is unclear how the right of integrity applies to the context in which a work is used, as opposed to the modification of the work itself, I submit that it should be interpreted such that authors have a right to object to the commercial association of their work with a position, product, or service against their will. Alternatively, I submit that legislative reform to include an open ended defence to copyright infringement could provide much needed flexibility in the Australian system. Such a defence could draw primarily on the US 'fair use' defence, but certain limitations of the US defence could be overcome in an Australian context. Again, as the theory shows, the primary consideration for infringement of the economic rights in transformative uses should be the degree to which the transformative use is substitutable for the original. Finally, I submit that the reasonableness defence to infringement of the moral right of integrity should be read in such a way as to ensure that the personal interests of authors does not interfere with the legitimate self-expression of future authors. I will show that the theory does not support moral rights to the exclusion of either the ability of future authors to self-actualise. The operation of the reasonableness defence should be clarified to ensure that the legitimate interests of both past and future creators are recognised.

Thèse d'agrégation--Louvain. / Bibliography: p. 311-315.

Thesis (doctoral)--Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, 1973. / Includes bibliographical references (p. x-xlv).

Thesis (M.A.)--Ball State University, 2009. / Title from PDF t.p. (viewed on Mar. 25, 2010). Research paper (M.A.), 3 hrs. Includes bibliographical references (p. 38-40).

This study investigated the understanding of digital copyright issues among business career and technical educators in Mississippi. The areas considered were knowledge; perceptions of knowledge; areas of copyright knowledge including computers and software, the Internet, video, and multimedia; and demographics of teaching level, gender, participation in professional development activities, and teaching experience. Participants included 75 Mississippi business career and technical educators at both the secondary and postsecondary levels. The knowledge level of participants was judged to be low; only four participants reached the established competency level of 70%. Their self-rated perception level was higher than their knowledge level, with the largest number of participants indicating that they had an average level of knowledge concerning digital copyright issues on a scale of ratings from no knowledge to excellent knowledge. A Spearman‘s correlation indicated that there was no significant correlation between the participants‘ knowledge and their perceptions of their knowledge (Spearman‘s rho = .162). Pearson‘s correlations were performed to investigate any significant correlations among computers and software, the Internet, video, and multimedia. A significant correlation was found to exist between the computers and software area and the video area, r = .327. Analyses of any significant correlations between knowledge and the demographic variables of teaching level, gender, participation in professional development activities, and teaching experience were made by performing Spearman‘s rho correlations. There were no significant correlations. However, the professional development variable had a negative correlation with the knowledge scores, teaching level, and teaching experience. Conclusions based on the findings indicated that Mississippi business career and technical educators should be provided with training on specific digital copyright areas. These educators will then be better equipped to determine appropriate use of copyrighted materials and model this use to their students.

LL.M.

The establishment of copyright protection systems aims to achieve two important purposes; to stimulate the incentive for creation by granting authors a series of exclusive rights on the one hand, and promote the progress of culture and public welfare by establishing a series of limitations on these exclusive rights so that the flow of information and dissemination of knowledge will not be hindered on the other hand. There is always a close relationship between technology development and copyright law. The emergence of personal computers and the internet has brought about a distinct wave of technological innovation that has reshaped copyright laws by empowering anyone with a connection to flawless, inexpensive and instantaneous reproduction and distribution of works of authorship. Such technological advancement changes the interests of copyright owners and public users. Users are exposed to more opportunities brought about by digital network technology to obtain access and exploit copyrightable works. If copyright laws do not expand their protected subject matters and categories of exclusive rights, authors cannot be adequately compensated under the digital network environment. Copyright laws can no longer function as an incentive for creation if there is a lack of revision and appropriate expansion. Hence, copyright laws need to extend protection to new subject matters, such as computer programs and databases; grant right holders new kinds of rights, such as right of rental and right to network dissemination of information; establish indirect infringing liability for internet service providers; and expand protection to technological measures. However, copyright expansion should not be unlimited and should cease when appropriate access to various works and future creations is at risk. Expansion of copyright protection is only justified when the access and use of works by the public threaten the incentive of authors to create and reap economic rewards. Overexpansion of copyright protection would again disrupt the balance if access to works is narrowly restricted. Overprotection of copyrights will not only obstruct access to original works, but will also inhibit future creations based on the original works. Based on comparative research on international and regional conventions as well as laws, regulations, policies and cases among different jurisdictions, this thesis intends to suggest proposals to recover the balance of interests among copyright holders, technological intermediaries and public users in terms of accessing, distributing and exploiting copyrighted works. Four specific issues are discussed in the thesis: the anti-circumvention rules for protection of technological measures; indirect infringing liability for internet service providers and safe harbor regulations; copyright limitations and exceptions especially under the digital network environment; and digital commons projects which promote distribution and adaptation of copyrighted works placed under voluntary licensing schemes. The analysis of these issues and corresponding proposals for reform are not only to reverse the worldwide copyright expansion trend so as to make copyright laws appropriately respond to digital network challenges and the emerging remix culture in general, but also to induce China to rethink and amend her copyright system so as to restore a robust public domain where existing information and data can be used to produce future intellectual assets. / published_or_final_version / Law / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

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- English In the 21st century the Internet constitutes very specific and important domain where the copyrighted works and their users encounter. It is the unique character of the Internet that in connection with the traditional concept of copyright as a law protecting a tangible medium creates this interesting problem of the use of copyrighted works in Internet environment. Resolving this problem and depicting what is actually happening on the web everyday is important also for the public in their daily use of the Internet. The majority of users does not even know what exactly they do on the Internet - which acts they perpetrate are legal and which are not. The aim of this thesis is mainly to describe particular modes of use of copyrighted works, and the scope of protection of a work. In the field of Internet these are according to §12 in association with §13 and §18 of the Czech Copyright Act reproduction and communication to public, for these are the only modes that doesn't require a tangible medium. The thesis solves in which case the Fair use concept of §30 is applied and when a consent of author or collective administrator is required. The thesis also deals with the distinction between public and private law definition of broadcasting. The paper also handles the use of copyrighted work in...