A North American Perspective

Influence of Copyright on the Emergence of New Technologies: a North American Perspective A thesis submitted to the Facuky of Graduate Studies and Research in partial fulfillrnent of the requirements of the degree of master. Me MarbHel6ne Deschamps-Maquis FacultyofLaw McGill University, Montreal November 1999 O Marie-HBldne Deschamps-Maquis, 1999 National Library Biblioîhèque nationale du Canada Acquisitions and Acquisitions el Bibliographie Services senhces bibliographiques 395 Wellington Street 345. Na WaiIigion Onawa ON KlA ON4 WONK1AW CMada canada The author has granted a non- L'auteur a accordé une licence non exciusive Iicence allowing the exchishe permettant à la National Lr'brary of Canada to Bibliothèque nationale du Canada de reproduce, loan, distribute or sel reproduire, prêter, distriiuer ou copies of this thesis in microform, vendre des copies de cette thèse sous paper or electronic fonnats. la fome de microfiche/fh, de reproduction sur papier ou sur format électronique. The author retains ownership of the L'auteur conseme la propriété du copyright in tûis thesis. Neither the droit d'auteur qui protège cette thèse. thesis nor substantial exiracts fiom it Ni la thèse ni des extraits substantiels may be printed or otherwise de ceiie-ci ne doivent être imprimés reproduced without the author's ou autrement reproduits sans son permission. autorisation. 2. TE€ ESSENCE OF COPYRIGHT ---..,. 1 1. CONCLUSION ,.-.-.-.!H Ce mémoire de maitrise étudie l'impact du droit d'auteur Nord Américain sur i'évolution technologique. Sa prerniin partie propose une vision large du droit d'auteur englobant la &alité canadienne et américaine. Suite à l'étude des différentes définitions légales de œ concept, de son origine et de ses justifications sous-jacentes, se construit une définition englobante du droit d'auteur en Amérique du Nord. La deuxième partie s'attarde aux differentes confrontations historiques entre le copyright et l'apparition de nouvelles technologies. Elle &tudie et analyse I'bvolution de la presse 8 imprimer, de la photographie, du piano mhnique, du cinéma, de la radio, de la tél4vision par câble, du photocopieur, du viddo, de la cassette audii digitale et du lecteur MP3, ainsi que la réaction des acteurs juridiques à ces dernières. L'ensemble de ces cléments permet de d&mniner l'influence du copyright sur le d6veloppement technologique. This thesis studies the impad of Norai American copyright on technological development. The first section proposes a broad vision of copyright induding both Canadian and American le@ cmœpts. It analyses diint modem definitions of copyright, the minof the concept and its underiying justifications. The second secth! preJents the hisbrical relations between copyright and technologies. It studii the history of the printing pnm, the photognphy, the player-piano, the motion pidure, the radio, the cab TV, the photocopier, the videotape, the Digital Audio Tape and the MP3, and the legal challenge they repTB58nfed. Those etîmenb give us the opfmdunity to evaluate the influerice of copyright or\ techmlogical developmefit A Sunny Handa, pour sa patience, sa générosité et sa passion du droit ... A Ysolde Gendreau, pour ses prédeux cunseils. .. A Me André P. Casgrain, pour avoir cru en moi d&s mes ddbuts ... A mes parents Marielle Maquis et Raymond Deschamps, pour leur présence et leur support.. A mon conjoint, Marc Tanguy, pour sa bonne humeur quotidienne... iii We must take am to guard against two extmmes equally pmjudicial; the one, that men of abiliS; who have employed theri time hr the semice of the community, may not be deprived of theif jusf merits, and the rieward of thek ingenudy and /ahur; the other, that the wodd mây ndbe deprived of impmvement, nor the pmgmss of the ads be latarded- Lord Mansfield In the 20th œntury, technologieal developments have changed the way we Iive. Our grandparents' letters took days ar even weeks ta arrive at their destination; now we can communicate by e-mail, and our messages arrive almost instantly. Twenty years ago, one had to lesm cornputer languages to use a personal cornputer; now we can easily surf the "Net" using sophisticated software. Copyright protection has had to adapt to this new reality. Because such protection was çonœiveâ during the 17' and 1k centuries. it has not aiways been capable of addWng modem tedinological devdopment Through the ages, diirent appmaches have been ernbraced to campensate far this deficiency. Sommes tectiridogies have bæn rnodii to comply with intellectual pmperty rules, Mile at atlier times Copyright Acts have been extended to take into amttechndogical progriess. But has copyright delayed the evolution of technoiogy? Has it deprived the wwld of improvement as Lord Mansfield feared it would? As the new millennium nears, it is intefesting to address these questions. Before beginning this study, it is important to detemine what will be consideted as "delayed technobgical devebpment". Judging how ideas present themselves to an inventor, or whether inventors would have aded diimntiy in the absence of copyright lm, is unmalistic. it is also difficult to evaluate whether inventors might have discarded ideas if such ideas had infnnged somdone else's copyright. Consequently, the objective of this study is not to detemine whether some inventions died with their authors, but whether copyright hindered existing- creation development AIthough an inventor might conceive of a machine in one fom, copyright may limit the use of some of its features, and the product might appear on the market in another fotm, one offering less possibilities than originally intended. Limiting features of a device can reduce its popularity; if the device is less popular, manufadurers will be unwilling to invest in producing and marketing it. While some pesons particularly skilled in the field may have access to the machine, the population as a whole may be deprived of h This thesis evaluates access to new technology from the point of view of the mass population and considers Iower popularity to be included Win the definition of "delayed techndogical devefoprnent". Consequently, for the purpose of this thesis, the expression "delayed technological development" means to affect negatively the distribution of scientifc or mechanical inventions, induding the diminution of a device's popularity . To analyze copyright's influence properîy, it is also necessary to detemine what copyright actually is. Limiting the anaiysis to those copyright notions included in statutes would mislead our study. In some situations, the essetnœ of copyight might have aflected technological devebpment even without the application of vurittan law. In this second part, a study of the copyrights origin, definitions and justifications will lead to a valid definition of this privilege. The thifd part is comprised of an histoncal study of the relationship between copyright and technologies. It examines how North Arnerican legislatures and courts have reacted to technorogical progress and dealt with the emefg8nœ of sophistiated systems of reproduction. Promotem of new techniques piayed an important part in this pmss, and thus their reactions ta legal obligations are also discussed. All those elements will heip detemine the impact of copyright on technological development. In sum, this thesis attempts to answer a simple quesüon: Has copyright law delayd or stifid technological development?' To study the impact of copyfight on technological develapment, one needs to have a cornpiete picture of the copyright caneept. Limiting the copyright definition to statutary restrkîions wuld mislead this study: technological devekyment rnight have been ifluend by the copyright restrictioris inûuded in written laws, but it might alsd have been affected by the fear of an extension of the statutes. New technoiagy promaters might itve abred it to avoid the attention of copyright supportem. A valid analysis of the impact of copyright needs to adopt a brwd persm# and go beyond the sbtutes to undentand the essence of mpyfight. This part tries to pmtan ail-encompassing definition of the North Arnerican W*on of copyright Another challenge of this part is ta present a unique North Amencan deiinitian of aapyright. Evm though they have the same origin and name, Amerban and Canadian copyright laws am diit.The definition given in this part must be large mughto indude both kgal regiriaes. Because current definitions am a gmd way to min the study of any legal concept, this part first boks at the modem inbfpretation of mpyright. Themfk, it studies the origin of the concept and presmts an analysis of its underlying justifications. Thase diitelementg should lead ta a cfear pidure of the copyrÎgM reelity in North Am8rica. This study begins by lodsing at the differsrit modem descn'ptiuns d apyfight American and Canadian statutes have their mm venions of mis nation. Courts, dicümries, and authors alsa have theit awn points of view. This secbon ampares the cornmon elémerits of the dÏffemt ddiditions. Copyright Acts portray the legislatures' understanding of copyright. Nevertheless, neither the American nor the Canadian statutes pmvide a clear explanatim of the notion. The general definition given in the Canadian Copyright Act ' only refers to the different sections of the statute: "copyright " means the rights described in (a) section 3, in the case of work, (b) secüons 15 and 26, in the case of a performer's performance, (c) secüon 18, in the case of sound recording, or (d) Won21, in the case of a communication signal? This

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