Study On Fair Use For Internet In The Digital Age

The appearance of printing technology has contributed to the legislation of copyright laws because printing technology has completely changed the method of duplicating publications.Such a shift has also created a shift of rights among authors,publishers and consumers. Lifestyles have changed completely following the industrial revolution;not only have the relevant social systems and legal stipulations been extensively modified,but also entirely new laws have been legislated.The appearance of digital technology and the Internet are once again changing the way publication are made and distributed,and is having a profound effect of people's lifestyles.The Internet is civilizations greatest achievement in linking up the world's information.Copyright law has faced several significant disputations from the digital Internet environment.According to the evolution history of the copyright law,the occurrence of such disruptions should be regarded as a matter of course.Copyright law itself exhibits tool-like properties to such a high extent that it has played a very important role in promoting intelligence,knowledge and culture.Thus,all relevant disruptions about copyright law will not break from its essence.Seen from a different point of view,the stipulations related to the rights of a copyright owner as defined in the copyright law are restricting functions.The fair use system is the most important mechanism in balancing the rights of the copyright owner and the greater public interest.Certainly,the purpose of balance lies in reaching a consistent goal with copyright law.Some scholars state that copyright law is the most troublesome of laws,and fair use is the core of this trouble.In fact,the problem that arises from fair use is that it must keep up with the times;it must grow along with the development of science and technology.The key issue of copyright law in an Internet environment is to give a new vision and meaning to fair use.On the Internet,the boundary between the individual and the public is becoming fuzzier.Hence,a restriction of the fair use of an individual could imply the impairment of public interests too.Media technology providers and the Internet service providers play important roles in the communication of information.These providers could be individuals or enterprises;they could be targeted on commercial benefits or be purely neutral.However,due to the nature of the Internet environment,a specific infringement by a media technology provider or an Internet service provider could cause a great loss of benefit to the copyright owner. Meanwhile,any restriction and limitation to the media technology provider or the Internet service provider would affect the public interests too.Hence, in this thesis,a study on the benefit to the copyright owner and fair use is carried out through the viewpoints of philosophy,freedom of speech, public interest,economic analysis,competition platform,and information freedom,in the hopes of explaining the new thinking about fair use and increasing the common understanding and active participation of the public. By doing so,new values could be derived to allow copyright law to be interpreted and used judiciously and with greater consensus.