Networks of Power in Digital Copyright Law and Policy

The European market for the distribution of digital music for the non-commercial consumer is a highly topical issue in copyright law at the present time. Whereas the EU continues to strive for the further harmonisation of the internal market, a single market for digital services remains elusive. Barriers between Member States are artificially constructed on popular services such as iTunes, rather than the borderless nature of the Internet being taken advantage of. By approaching the question from a multi-disciplinary perspective, this book seeks to explain the reasons why creating a harmonised market for digital services is difficult to achieve. Its focus is not only on how' the harmonisation of other aspects of copyright law have led to the development of laws which potentially hinder the development of online services, but also on 'why' copyright law has developed in such a restrictive manner, by focusing on the role of industry representatives, collecting societies and legislative bodies in the development of contemporary 'digital' copyright law.

By applying theories on Networks, Farrand suggests this may help to explain the decisions of legislative and executive bodies in implementing increasingly restrictive copyright laws. Farrand continues to consider the role of collecting socieites both online and offline, and how these institutions operate in a manner that leads to further fragmentation of a single market for the digital music distribution.

Moving away from the a 'purely' legal or perspective in terms of proportionality or effectivenesss of copyright law, or increasingly from a law and economics perspective in terms of efficiency, this work will instead seek to ask how copyright laws have come about, through the application of network theories. In so doing, the author presents an original theoretical framework for assessing developments in copyright law.