Policy and Technology Essay

“Copyright” literally means “the right to copy”. This term is now usually denotes the set of exclusive rights provided by law in terms of the authors and their works. Copyright owner has the exclusive right to reproduce, distribute, and – in the case of certain works – to publicly perform or display work, create derivative works, and grant the right to do the same to others on certain conditions. Copyright protection does not extend to any idea, procedure, process, slogans, principles or discoveries.
Internet, as a modern mean of communication and information sharing, implies that anyone, who has computer and internet access, can copy and distribute any information in digital files. That is why in the 21 century there is an acute problem of copyright on the Internet; its protection is a problem which requires serious attention and discussion. Nowadays there are still no strict and uniform policies for all countries on the position. This is not surprising, as the Internet, as a global computer network, is a relatively new communication tool and is going through the stage of rapid development. It is clear that legislation is not always able to react on this rapid development of new technologies, and therefore there are a lot of problems that are waiting for decision.
In this paper we consider the problems of copyright, which occur in the Internet in the process of global exchange of information, and the complexity of their protection on the Internet. It is also necessary to consider what actions on the Internet fall under the scope of copyright protection.

The problem of copyright on the Internet
in the 21 century
Copyright is a form of protection provided by law to the creators of the “unique works of authorship” including literary, dramatic, musical, artistic, and certain other intellectual works. Such protection is provided to both published and unpublished works. Violation of all rights, granted by the copyright holder, according to the copyright law is illegal. How can copyright law be implemented in the field of electronic communications – the Internet? Trying to answer this question, we will rely primarily on the experience of the United Kingdom, since this country, along with such giants of information technology as the U.S. and Japan, is a world leader in the development of cyberspace. (Litman, 2000)
In the UK, as well as other developed countries, the copyright infringement can be prosecuted by the copyright holder, who may seek compensation for damages caused to him. Moreover, infringement of copyright in the United Kingdom is a criminal offense. In accordance with “The Act on copyright, designs and patents” of 1988, such an offense is punishable by a fine or imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years. The executive authority, responsible for the observance and enforcement of the rules set in the Act, is called the Copyright Licensing Agency, CLA. (The Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology, 2002)
It should be noted that the Act on copyright, designs and patents (1988) is the latest law covering copyright issues. This Act radically reformed the laws on intellectual property and took into account all the changes that had occurred since the adoption of the previous Copyright Act of 1956. However, it is clear that since the entry of the Act in 1988 there are a lot of technological changes and, as a result, some of these changes are not taken into account in the legislation. (The Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology, 2002)
The rapid development of the Internet technologies gave an opportunity to get any information in a few seconds, including millions of pages of material, photos, magazine articles, reports, conference materials, annual reports and other important materials. Compared with the past, today the latest advances in information technology provide access to the information much faster and easier. (Merges R., 1997)
The British Agency for Copyright and Licensing reports that the Internet is protected by copyright, and Web pages are “literary” works. It means that Internet pages contain the text which itself is considered literary work; graphic images are artistic works, as well as any sound files are recordings. (The Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology, 2002)
This creates a situation when a single page can contain dozens of copyright infringements. Moreover, each copy requires the consent of the copyright holder. Copying begins when browsing, and is implemented in the computer’s memory, temporary files and browser temp files in the network. If you already have permission to enter a protected page, then you can confidently assert that these copies are permitted. At the same time there is no reason to believe that today this problem has clear rules. Printing a page, in fact, also requires prior permission from the copyright holder. However, this kind of copy may already be permitted if only to refer to the copyright marking, located on this web page. (Litman, 2000)
The next important issue of protection and enforcement of copyright on the Internet is the ability to go from one Web page to another or, in other words, to create hypertext links. By creating a hypertext link, you do not create copy, but you can let someone else to make a copy of the material to which you are connected. HTML language provides the ability to add an image from another website to your own web page, so that it will appear to the user as a part of your page. Such actions can not be called copying in the full sense of the word, but de facto such an operation is similar to it, and there is no law article on hypertext links, so this sphere is not protected. Particular attention should be paid to sending of information saved in digital formats. Indeed, in such cases, unless you have licensed agreement that clearly defines the procedure for sending such material to specific users, there is a risk of copyright infringement. Thus, Internet technologies and digital information sharing has brought many contradictions in modern copyright law. (Litman, 2000)
One of the emerging issues is the possibility of adoption of working law on intellectual property, while the Internet is a global network and intellectual property has territorial limits. There are some other conflicts too. It is also necessary to note, for example, the relationship between authorship and ownership, as well as the question of supervision and responsibility of service providers. (Litman, 2000)
The advent of the Internet, it seems, has brought the need for a new definition of such concepts as authorship and ownership. After all, the Internet combines two different aspects of communication: interpersonal communication and mass communication. The need for a new approach to authorship and ownership is defined as the ability of Internet to combine information from multiple sources into a new product. In the past times the ideas themselves were not property unless they were fixed in certain ways, which could be held or sold to the mass market. Then the ideas were not protected by copyright law, if they were created in the process of human communication and had no fixed form. Today we should try to find a solution to a fundamentally new situation. One of the issues raised by copyright owners, is the responsibility of the ISP for copyright infringement by users. Copyright owners argue that each provider is responsible for all copyright infringement by users, even if he has already taken steps to prevent infringement. In other words, the copyright holders want to get from the content providers a particular responsibility for violations. (Litman, 2000)
What exactly falls under copyright protection on the Internet? First of all, it is
materials from books, magazines or periodicals, which can not be placed on the Internet, in newsgroups or on bulletin boards without the written permission of the copyright holder. It is possible to get access to the materials legally posted on the Internet, but the license of the Agency for Copyright and licensing does not apply to photocopying downloaded from the printouts. (The Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology, 2002)
Copyright protects an Internet page design and content, including links to the original text graphics, audio files, video, html, vrml and other language series, lists of web sites compiled by the organization or individual citizen, and all other unique elements that is an original material. By creating a page on the Internet, you can place hypertext links to other sites using a free graphics. If graphics are not referred to as free, it may not be copied without permission. (Litman, 2000)
When creating a page on the Internet, it is impossible to place on it:
– The content of external sites, that is, to copy and combine information from various Internet resources to create your own document;
– Without permission to include in your document external electronic materials, such as e-mail ;
– Change the context, or to edit someone else’s digital correspondence, thus changing its meaning ;
– Copy and paste other people’s lists of resources on your page;
– Copy and paste logos, icons and other graphics, except that marked as “freeware” , from other sites on your page without permission. (Litman, 2000)
Though there are many other aspects of copyright on the Internet, which still are waiting their final resolution.