Commercializing motion pictures and sound recordings through the Internet: Copyright law and technological change

The Internet today permeates society at its most basic structure. Creative content, such as motion pictures and sound recordings, have become more accessible to users over the Internet. The motion picture and sound recording industries have responded to the changes brought about by the Internet by calling for greater copyright protection for their works and have pursued strategies to enforce copyright laws against private users of content. This dissertation argues that the call for greater copyright protection does not address the changes that the industries are undergoing as a result of the Internet. Rather the more appropriate solution to technological changes brought about by the Internet and digital technologies will be to develop new business models and industrial structures that will allow motion pictures and sound recordings to be successfully commercialized over the Internet. Copyright law has a pivotal role to play in this age as businesses explore new ways of commercializing content through the Internet and as authors and artists obtain more direct contact with the users of their works. Copyright law serves the fundamental purpose of promoting the progress of art, culture and education as well as encouraging new forms of artistic works to be produced by providing an incentive to authors to create new works through the recognition of a temporary property right in their works. This dissertation submits that the role that copyright law plays in balancing private property rights of authors and the public interest in access to creative works for general societal development and growth is central to the successful commercialization of creative works over the Internet.