![]() ![]() Unfortunately, with the emergence of digital age, characterized by digital technologies such the internet, scanner, digital cameras smartphones, smart televisions, e-book, social media etc., has cause strain in copyright protection due to the relative ease of replication, manipulation, reproduction and dissemination of copyrighted materials in digital formats within the digital space. Several legal frameworks such as the Berne Convention, WIPO Copyright Treaty (WCT) and the Nigeria Copyright Act have all been enacted for the purpose of recognizing and protecting these rights both at the international and local scene. It is time that the copyright industry stopped fighting new technology and realise that their survival might depend on finding new business models that incorporate technologies like P2P networks into their strategies.Ĭopyright is one of the several intellectual property rights that accrues to authors of literary and creative works at the point of creation. The current digital era poses the biggest challenge copyright legislation has had to face in its history with technology enabling copyright infringements of a scale by far exceeding all other periods combined.Ī lot of laws and litigation have marked the path leading up to the situation today, with many remedies proving ineffective in reversing the scale of copyright infringement. ![]() The Berne Convention remains the most important international agreement on copyright and most national laws and international instruments have developed with reference to it.įollowing the age of the printing press, the next major technologies to influence copyright were the new recording and broadcast technologies bringing with them revolutions that forced major shifts in copyright legislation in its efforts to curb infringement. International agreements were developed over time that reacted to technologies influence on copyright while, at the same time, setting the baseline for national copyright legislation to grow around. However, as the world continued to develop and cross border activity flourished national copyright legislation was not sufficient to govern what had become a global concern. Modern national copyright legislation has evolved with different influences throughout history. Value that was difficult to access by the authors of the books until 200 years later when the Statute of Anne, in an effort to encourage the sustained production or original works, granted the authors exclusive rights to their works and started the whole copyright story. Gutenberg’s invention of movable type, however, revolutionised the industry and the stationers in England moved from reproducing single volumes by hand to producing many more copies to match the growing demand resulting in books gaining significant financial value. Before its invention, the principle protecting author’s rights did not exist because the mass reproduction of literary works was not possible. ![]() The exclusive rights of reproduction and distribution given to the creators of artistic and literary works today to are very different from what they were 500 years ago when this relationship began.Ĭopyright developed as a direct consequence of the invention of the printing press. Copyright and technology have a long and intertwined history during which both have felt their influence on each other. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |