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Yu, Peter K. --- "The copy in copyright" [2016] ELECD 989; in Lai, C. Jessica; Maget Dominicé, Antoinette (eds), "Intellectual Property and Access to Im/material Goods" (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2016) 65

Book Title: Intellectual Property and Access to Im/material Goods

Editor(s): Lai, C. Jessica; Maget Dominicé, Antoinette

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

ISBN (hard cover): 9781784716615

Section: Chapter 3

Section Title: The copy in copyright

Author(s): Yu, Peter K.

Number of pages: 29

Abstract/Description:

Since its inception, copyright law has been developed around the concept of “copy”. Although copyright began mostly as a right vested in copies, and therefore a right to prevent others from multiplying copies, the emphasis has now been dramatically shifted to the act of copying itself. The terms “copy” and “copies” have also been slowly re-conceptualised to respond to changing technology and to expand the scope of copyright protection. The first half of this chapter takes a historical perspective. It recounts the use of the concept of “copy” by the Stationers’ Company and in the Statute of Anne. It also addresses two different sets of challenges to this foundational concept: (1) the US Supreme Court case of White-Smith Music Publishing Co v Apollo Co and (2) the efforts in the mid-1990s to update the concept to meet the needs of the digital environment. The second half of this chapter is forward-looking. It examines four areas in which digital technology has posed major challenges to the concept of “copy”: reproduction, distribution, public performance and making available. The chapter concludes with six observations concerning the future development of copyright law in the digital environment.