Law & Technology Master Thesis Is “Three Strikes and You're Out”

Law & Technology Master Thesis Is “three strikes and you’re out” an appropriate measure for online copyright infringement? Manpreet Kaur Singh ANR: 328611 Email: [email protected] Thesis Supervisor: S.L. (Sander) Gellaerts Law and Technology, Faculty of Law Tilburg University June 2011 Table of Contents 1. INTRODUCTION ..............................................................................................................................4 1.1 Background .................................................................................................................................... 4 1.2 Research Question ......................................................................................................................... 5 1.3 Methodology ................................................................................................................................. 6 1.4 Intended Outcome ......................................................................................................................... 7 1.5 Thesis Structure ............................................................................................................................. 7 2. RESPONSE TO COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT .....................................................................................9 2.1 Introduction ................................................................................................................................... 9 2.2 Copyright Law ................................................................................................................................ 9 2.2.1 Relevance of Copyright Law .................................................................................................... 9 2.2.2 Music, Film and Games Sub-industries .................................................................................. 10 2.2.3 Accurate and Reliable Figures? - Costs of Copyright Infringement ......................................... 12 2.3 History – The copyright journey ................................................................................................... 15 2.3.1 The 15 th Century and 16 th century ......................................................................................... 15 2.3.2 The 17 th Century .................................................................................................................... 17 2.3.3 The 18 th Century .................................................................................................................... 18 2.3.4 The 20 th century onwards ...................................................................................................... 19 2.3.5 EU Copyright Law and US Copyright Law ............................................................................... 20 2.4 Measures to combat copyright infringement ............................................................................... 21 2.4.1 The 4 Modalities – Law, Technology, Social Norms and Market ............................................. 22 2.4.2 [LAW] Notice and Takedown ................................................................................................. 24 2.4.3 [LAW] Litigation .................................................................................................................... 24 2.4.4 [LAW] Graduated Response and Three strikes approach ....................................................... 25 2.4.5 [LAW] ADR System modeled on ICANN’s UDRP...................................................................... 29 2.4.6 [TECHNOLOGY] DRM ............................................................................................................. 29 2.4.7 [SOCIAL NORMS] Education................................................................................................... 31 2.4.8 [MARKET] Business Models ................................................................................................... 31 2.4.9 US and EU – Comparisons and Conclusions ........................................................................... 32 Page 2 of 70 3. ACCESS TO INTERNET ................................................................................................................... 36 3.1 Introduction ................................................................................................................................. 36 3.2 History from then to today: The internet journey ......................................................................... 36 3.3 Internet as a right ........................................................................................................................ 38 3.3.1 Freedom of Expression .......................................................................................................... 38 3.3.2 Freedom of Information ........................................................................................................ 40 3.3.3 Freedom to access information, Human rights declaration – does it translate to a right to internet access? ............................................................................................................................. 40 3.3.4 Is it a right? ........................................................................................................................... 41 3.4 Is right of Access to Internet important in society? ....................................................................... 44 4. PROPORTIONALITY – AN APPROPRIATE MEASURE? ....................................................................... 46 4.1 Introduction ................................................................................................................................. 46 4.2 Determining Appropriateness ...................................................................................................... 46 4.2.1 Proportionality and Subsidiarity ............................................................................................ 46 4.2.2 Examples of Disproportionate and Proportionate damages ................................................... 48 4.3 Back to basics – purpose of copyright law .................................................................................... 51 4.4 Proportionality ............................................................................................................................. 53 4.5 Subsidiarity .................................................................................................................................. 54 4.6 The Future ................................................................................................................................... 55 5. CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................ 57 BIBLIOGRAPHY ................................................................................................................................. 59 Page 3 of 70 1. INTRODUCTION 1.1 Background Copyright is a legal term describing rights given to creators for their artistic and literary works. The original creators of works protected by copyright, and their heirs, have certain basic rights which include the exclusive right to use or authorize others to use the work on agreed terms. The creator of a work can prohibit or authorize the work’s reproduction, its public performance, a recording of it, its broadcasting, its translation or its adaptation. The creator or the owner of the copyright in a work can enforce rights upon evidence of copyright infringement. Many of these creative works protected by copyright require mass distribution, communication and financial investment for their dissemination and therefore the creators often sell their works to individuals or companies in return for payment. The entertainment conglomerate comprising of the film, music and gaming industries as a whole holds a lot of these exclusive rights and are feeling a sense of urgency especially in today’s world in wanting to combat copyright infringement. According to Frances Moore, CEO of the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI), an organization that represents the recording industry worldwide, the key statistic published in its report of 2011 summed up the story of recent years – “on one hand, spectacular growth in digital revenues, up more than 1000 per cent in seven years; but on the other hand, the loss of nearly one-third of the value of the entire recorded music industry” 1. The report goes on to state that digital music piracy exists on a vast scale and is growing globally with illegal file-sharing on peer-2-peer (P2P) networks remaining in widespread existence, and alternative forms of illegal distribution such as cyberlockers, illegal streaming services and forums also a serious and growing problem. 2 The industry has employed several methods of reducing copyright infringement such as through education, innovation, and enforcement 3. Litigation has also been at the forefront of the copyright combating saga. For example, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) has been pursuing copyright infringers directly through massive litigation for a 5 year continuous period from 2003 to 2008. 4 Although the judgments have been favorable for the industry, it has been noted that the reputation of the music industry has soured in the eyes of many young users 5 – the very clients that the industry are trying to entice. Was this appropriate? The question of appropriateness

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