Patricia Akester - Academia.edu (original) (raw)
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Papers by Patricia Akester
Social Science Research Network, 2024
Digital technology is challenging traditional copyright principles. Despite suggestions from a nu... more Digital technology is challenging traditional copyright principles. Despite suggestions from a number of commentators that copyright cannot survive the challenge, this thesis aims to demonstrate that copyright can evolve and adapt rather than face elimination. This hypothesis is tested and illustrated by means of an examination of law in conjunction with technology, and by means of concrete examples. Analysis of the author's position in the face of digital technology requires firstly, an investigation of the way in which the existence and exercise of the author's copyright itself is affected by such technology, and secondly, an examination of how the author's standing in relation to dissemination of works generally is concerned (e.g. as regards freedom of speech). It is with the first of these aspects that this thesis is mainly concerned, although, for the sake of a more comprehensive view, some considerations on the second aspect are also advanced. This thesis examines challenges raised in the copyright field by digital technology and the consequential problems in relation to classification of subject matter, identification of authors, fixation and reproduction, the criterion of originality, the meaning of publication, recognition of moral rights, recognition of economic rights, exceptions and limitations, liability of service providers, authenticity of works, infringement, feasibility of enforcement and conflict of laws. Broader issues relating to Government and private control of access to the new media are also analysed.
SSRN Electronic Journal, 2009
This report looks at the impact of technological measures on the ability of users to take advanta... more This report looks at the impact of technological measures on the ability of users to take advantage of certain statutory exceptions to copyright. When technological measures were under consideration in the mid 1990s two stark scenarios presented themselves: on the one hand, an ideal world where copyright owners could use DRM to make their works available under a host of different conditions in a way that responded to the diversity of consumer demand; on the other, a more bleak environment where all users of copyright material (and much non-copyright material) would be forced to obtain permission and pay to access material that previously would have been available to all. In the face of these two extreme visions, the European legislature developed a compromise position, embodied notoriously in Article 6(4) of the Information Society Directive. The legislature appeared to be hoping that rightholders would voluntarily make material within certain specified exceptions available to users. The author examined how these issues are working out in practice. Based on a series of interviews with key organisations and individuals, involved in the use of copyright material and the development and deployment of DRM, she provides a sober assessment of the current state of affairs.
Computer Law & Security Review, 2004
The Cambridge Law Journal, 2006
This book offers a clear introductory path to approach the complex and changing area of digital c... more This book offers a clear introductory path to approach the complex and changing area of digital copyright law. It encapsulates the legislation and jurisprudence associated to contemporary, controversial and ubiquitous (or soon to be ubiquitous) technological trends - Peer-to-Peer, linking and search engines, and digital libraries - also probing the digital rights management field - which emerged as a potential solution to most of the problems raised by digital technology. The methodology followed entails an investigation of the technology at stake, an analysis of the relevant legal provisions and a review of the most significant judicial responses, aiming to present, in an integrated manner, the law and technology intrinsic to those trends. The approach is international in scope. The premise is that the challenges invoked by those technologies and the ensuing legal and judicial responses thereto, have shaped (and are continuing to shape) the law of copyright and the Internet. Includ...
Social Science Research Network, 2024
Digital technology is challenging traditional copyright principles. Despite suggestions from a nu... more Digital technology is challenging traditional copyright principles. Despite suggestions from a number of commentators that copyright cannot survive the challenge, this thesis aims to demonstrate that copyright can evolve and adapt rather than face elimination. This hypothesis is tested and illustrated by means of an examination of law in conjunction with technology, and by means of concrete examples. Analysis of the author's position in the face of digital technology requires firstly, an investigation of the way in which the existence and exercise of the author's copyright itself is affected by such technology, and secondly, an examination of how the author's standing in relation to dissemination of works generally is concerned (e.g. as regards freedom of speech). It is with the first of these aspects that this thesis is mainly concerned, although, for the sake of a more comprehensive view, some considerations on the second aspect are also advanced. This thesis examines challenges raised in the copyright field by digital technology and the consequential problems in relation to classification of subject matter, identification of authors, fixation and reproduction, the criterion of originality, the meaning of publication, recognition of moral rights, recognition of economic rights, exceptions and limitations, liability of service providers, authenticity of works, infringement, feasibility of enforcement and conflict of laws. Broader issues relating to Government and private control of access to the new media are also analysed.
SSRN Electronic Journal, 2009
This report looks at the impact of technological measures on the ability of users to take advanta... more This report looks at the impact of technological measures on the ability of users to take advantage of certain statutory exceptions to copyright. When technological measures were under consideration in the mid 1990s two stark scenarios presented themselves: on the one hand, an ideal world where copyright owners could use DRM to make their works available under a host of different conditions in a way that responded to the diversity of consumer demand; on the other, a more bleak environment where all users of copyright material (and much non-copyright material) would be forced to obtain permission and pay to access material that previously would have been available to all. In the face of these two extreme visions, the European legislature developed a compromise position, embodied notoriously in Article 6(4) of the Information Society Directive. The legislature appeared to be hoping that rightholders would voluntarily make material within certain specified exceptions available to users. The author examined how these issues are working out in practice. Based on a series of interviews with key organisations and individuals, involved in the use of copyright material and the development and deployment of DRM, she provides a sober assessment of the current state of affairs.
Computer Law & Security Review, 2004
The Cambridge Law Journal, 2006
This book offers a clear introductory path to approach the complex and changing area of digital c... more This book offers a clear introductory path to approach the complex and changing area of digital copyright law. It encapsulates the legislation and jurisprudence associated to contemporary, controversial and ubiquitous (or soon to be ubiquitous) technological trends - Peer-to-Peer, linking and search engines, and digital libraries - also probing the digital rights management field - which emerged as a potential solution to most of the problems raised by digital technology. The methodology followed entails an investigation of the technology at stake, an analysis of the relevant legal provisions and a review of the most significant judicial responses, aiming to present, in an integrated manner, the law and technology intrinsic to those trends. The approach is international in scope. The premise is that the challenges invoked by those technologies and the ensuing legal and judicial responses thereto, have shaped (and are continuing to shape) the law of copyright and the Internet. Includ...