The liability regime in the European Union for online intermediaries have for a long time been built on the assumption that these intermediaries are neutral conveyors of information and should therefore not be liable for the content posted by third parties. With the emergence of online platforms as the new dominant online intermediary, this assumption no longer corresponds to reality. The platforms moderate the content that is posted on the platform and applies a business model where all traffic to the platform – even illegal – is good traffic. This development has been troublesome for intellectual property rights holders, considering that online platforms have displayed to be a breeding ground for illegal distribution of copyrighted works and for the sale of counterfeited goods. In the view of this, a debate on platform liability and responsibility have been on the rise and resulted in new EU-legislation. In this essay, I analyse the current and the upcoming liability regime for Online platforms in the event of user generated intellectual property infringements. I discuss enforcement options in the realm of liability for intellectual property rights holders and compare the options between trademark holders and copyright holders. In addition, I also discuss if the current and upcoming liability regime strikes a fair balance between the relevant stakeholders. My analysis will display that the regulation and discussion around platform liability and enforcement of intellectual property rights, have changed from being about claiming damages and injunctions, to be about content moderation, notice and action mechanisms and automated filtering tools. This has in some aspects changed online platforms from online intermediaries to Internet police and put enforcement and fundamental rights in the hands of algorithmic enforcement.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UPSALLA1/oai:DiVA.org:uu-475767 |
| Date | January 2022 |
| Creators | Fransson, Fredrik |
| Publisher | Uppsala universitet, Juridiska institutionen |
| Source Sets | DiVA Archive at Upsalla University |
| Language | Swedish |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Student thesis, info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis, text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Rights | info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
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