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Abstract:
This article examines the legality of Google's Library Project under U.S. and U.K. copyright law. The Library Project provides a useful example of the divergence in approach to copyright exceptions in these two jurisdictions. In particular, whilst Google's plans have generated a great deal of controversy, it at least has an arguable case under U.S. law that its use is fair use. No analogous argument can be made under U.K. law. The main purpose of this article is to highlight this distinction and to suggest that U.K. copyright law is failing to adequately account for transformations in the mode and manner in which individuals interact with information.

Following a brief introduction in part 1, part 2 begins by explaining how Google's 'Book Search' program (formerly 'Google Print') operates and briefly describing the two lawsuits issued against the 'Library Project' aspect of the service by the Author's Guild and a number of prominent publishers. Part 3 offers a preliminary assessment of whether Google's activities are lawful under U.S. copyright law. In attempting to answer this question, Google's case is presented with a 'positive spin'; not in an effort to predict the outcome of any future trial, but rather to illustrate that Google can reasonably argue that its use is a privileged one. Part 4 then considers how Google would fare under U.K. law. The conclusion, unlike the U.S. law analysis, suggests that Google would have little chance of success if its case was being heard in the U.K. Part 5 asks whether this is a desirable result and concludes that, given recent advances in the technological landscape, it is not. This conclusion is based, in particular, on Professor Zittrain's concept of 'generativity' and Professor Frischmann's economic theory of infrastructure. Finally, Part 6 describes how U.K. copyright law could accommodate uses such as Google's within its existing scheme of exceptions. A specific defence for 'intermediary' copying premised on the 'temporary copies' exception recently enacted as section 28A of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 is outlined, and alternatively a new defence of 'fair dealing for informational purposes' is proposed.

Google Book Search, Google Print, Fair Use, Fair Dealing, Generativity, Infrastructure, Intermediary Use, Informational Use

Abstract:
The copyright industries savour their role as critical intermediaries in the copyright supply chain. To this end they are continually seeking to strengthen their legal entitlements by arguing that stronger copyright incentives fuel future creative action. But the reality of creativity is different from the linear economic reward/action relationship that these industries promote. This reality has been brought into sharp focus by the seemingly limitless creativity that the internet has unleashed. Much of this creativity occurs without reference to the incentive structure provided by copyright law and demonstrates the potential redundancy of several existing industry functions. The result has been a seemingly intractable tension between established industries and emergent modes of production and dissemination. The clearest examples of this tension are the current debates over the utility of peer-to-peer technology and the competition between proprietary and open source software development models. This tension, and the realities of creativity that underpin it, are the subject of this article. A diverse range of creative experiments facilitated by digital networked technology are considered and used as a backdrop to a general discussion on some of the areas where reforms to copyright's existing incentive structure are most needed.

Copyright, Incentives, DRM, Peer-production, Information Society Directive

Abstract:
Net neutrality is a complex issue that has generated intense levels of political discussion in the United States, but which has yet to attract significant attention from regulators in the UK.

Nevertheless, the question of whether network operators should be restricted or prevented from blocking network traffic or prioritising certain traffic or traffic from particular sources is a significant one for a wide range of stakeholders in the digital networked economy. Network operators contend that the build costs for the next generation of networks are so high that they must be permitted to monetise their control over this infrastructure as efficiently as possible. Meanwhile, an eclectic mix of interests including content and service providers, free speech and special interest groups and entertainers argue that net neutrality regulation is necessary to guarantee that the internet's core values and social utility are preserved.

This article offers an introduction to the net neutrality from a UK perspective. The authors explain the technical, commercial, political and legal considerations that underpin the issue and suggest that whilst network neutrality regulation in its strongest incarnation is not practical or desirable, a level of regulatory action designed to enhance the choices of end-users is the best way forward.

Network Neutrality, access tiering, UK, Ofcom

Abstract:
This article examines a number of copyright issues relevant to providers and users of IPTV services. Broadly speaking this article addresses three sets of issues. First, consideration is given to various matters lumped under the heading rights issues. This includes rights clearance, the exploitation of new media rights, WIPO's draft broadcasting treaty, and user generated content. Second, the rights and exceptions implicated during the transmission of broadcast content over the internet (either as a stream or download) are described. Third, this article examines how copyright impacts on what end-users can do with IPTV content they receive and what consequences this may have for IPTV providers. The aim is to offer a commercial overview of the strategies being adopted by traditional broadcasters and internet businesses and to tie this to legal provisions that govern the creation, distribution and use of copyright materials in the context of IPTV.

IPTV, copyright, Internet

Abstract:
This article considers some of the emerging technology issues following the recent United States Supreme Court decision in MGM v. Grokster. This article first considers the active inducement standard for secondary copyright liability announced by the Court against the backdrop of some current technology controversies. Secondly, having reviewed the concurring Opinions of Justices Ginsburg and Breyer, this article questions whether a reformulation of the "capable of substantial non-infringing" use standard announced by the Supreme Court in Sony-Betamax is necessary in light of the emergent properties of digital networked products. This article concludes with some more general observations on the future of peer-to-peer technology.

Copyright, Grokster, Peer-to-Peer, Substantial Non-infringing Use, Inducement, Sony

Abstract:
A brief article looking at the legal and regulatory issues that arise in the net neutrality debate. Takes a Q&A format, providing the reader with a quick and readily digestible over view of the issues.

Net neutrality, internet, access, regulation

Abstract:
The Internet has ruffled the feathers of copyright law. In response, policy makers and rightsholders have sought to expand the legislative boundaries of copyright and embed technical and contractual constraints into works themselves. These measures - collectively termed Digital Rights Management - are not only viewed as necessary to stem the tide of `piracy`, but as desirable to achieve the efficient allocation of copyright works in the market place. Economic theory is used to support these advances as the natural progression for copyright law in the 21st century. This essay takes issue with this economic rationale, and suggests that private market based mechanisms are likely to systematically exclude certain values that copyright law has traditionally undertaken to protect. Furthermore, it is suggested that whilst rightholders are naturally wary of digital technology, it provides precious opportunities for those at the ends of the copyright chain: creators and users. Finally, the status of copyright exceptions under the European Copyright Directive, in particular those which implicate informational, private, and transformative uses, are assessed in light of the earlier arguments.

Abstract:
The Internet has ruffled the feathers of copyright law. In response policy makers and rightsholders have sought to expand the legislative boundaries of copyright and embed technical and contractual constraints into works themselves. These measures - collectively termed Digital Rights Management - are not only viewed as necessary to stem the tide of 'piracy', but as desirable to achieve the efficient allocation of copyright works in the market place. Economic theory is used to support these advances as the natural progression for copyright law in the 21st century.

This essay takes issue with this economic rationale, and suggests that private market based mechanisms are likely to systematically exclude certain values that copyright law has traditionally undertaken to protect. Furthermore, it is suggested that whilst rightholders are naturally wary of digital technology, it provides precious opportunities for those at the ends of the copyright chain: creators and users. Finally, the status of copyright exceptions under the European Copyright Directive, in particular those which implicate informational, private, and transformative uses, are assessed in light of the earlier arguments.

Copyright, Internet, DRM, Information Society Directive

Abstract:
Given the recent release of the Gowers Review in the UK, the time is ripe for considering the fundamentals of our intellectual property regime. This article focuses on some of the most common activities (e.g. linking, spidering and caching) routinely undertaken by search engines and data aggregators and assesses the potential copyright liability that these intermediaries are exposed to under UK law.

The authors argue that, despite the UK government's recent decision not to extend the limitations of liability that already apply to Internet intermediaries, the legal risks these intermediaries face are too great given their critical role in the effective functioning of the Internet, and that the UK should take steps to introduce a new fair dealing exemption for informational use.

Search Engines, Data Aggregators, Copyright, Fair Use, Fair Dealing, Informational Use

Abstract:
The 'net neutrality debate' has become shorthand in some US circles but has come to mean different things to different people - and means nothing at all to many. This article explains what the debate is all about and why it matters.

Information technology, net neutrality, access tiering, internet, regulation

Abstract:
This article examines emerging systems for protecting content under the rubric of Digital Rights Management. The potential for fine grained management of information works carries with it an unparalleled opportunity for distributors to closely monitor the reading habits - construed broadly - of individuals. The primary aim of this article is to expose how the extensive collection of personal information - regulated by the notion of 'informational' privacy - combined with the possibility of personalised marketing strategies, threatens individual choice and intellectual freedom - discussed by reference to conceptions of decisional privacy.

Having addressed the problem, the article goes on to examine some of the legal and technological mechanisms currently available to deal with the issue, before concluding that, whilst at present these mechanisms are inadequate, they contain within them the seeds of a more robust and mutually beneficial solution.

It is hoped that by confining this discussion to a specific context, some lessons may emerge that can contribute to the wider debate on Internet privacy.

Internet, DRM, Privacy