Copyright User Rights: Contracts and the Erosion of Property

This is the first book to offer an in-depth investigation of the unsettled nature, scope and dynamics of copyright user rights in an increasingly dematerialized environment. Combining a detailed theoretical framework with practical applications, the book provides a comprehensive perspective on copyright user rights, exploring the nature of commercial copies of copyright works, of exceptions to copyright infringement, and how they are shaped to a large extent by traditional concepts of private law (e.g. property, goods, services, sales, and licences). Using property and contract law and theory, it addresses the competing interests of copyright holders and users in the same object, and points out the double standards in how the rights of copyright holders and copyright users are dealt with. It argues that the property component of user rights has been largely neglected and needs to be brought to the fore, to give the protection that users deserve, without neglecting the rights users should have as they increasingly experience copyright works through services. With the onset of an increasingly digital age, it emphasises how traditional concepts of private law need to adapt for adequately dealing with the dematerialization of copies of copyright works and user rights. It proposes a clearer view on the justification and nature of user rights, with possible gradations of powers for users, and suggests how courts and legislatures may address contract terms that weaken user rights. This book provides vital tools for law- and policy-makers worldwide who seek to achieve the proper balance between the competing rights and interests of copyright holders, copyright users, and the public domain.

Table of Contents:
Introduction: Do Copyright Users Have Rights? Part I: In Search of Copyright User Rights 1: User Rights to Commercial Copies of Copyright Works 2: The Nature and Function of Exceptions to Copyright Infringement 3: In Search of Copyright User Remedies Part II: Rethinking Tangibility and Intangibility 4: Redefining Goods, Services, Sales and Licences 5: First Sale or Exhaustion Doctrine 6: Digital Locks, Physical Objects and Immaterial Works Part III: Rethinking User Rights through Property, Rights and Privileges 7: Why User Rights? 8: User Property, User Rights and User Privileges One Last Word

About the Author :
Professor Pascale Chapdelaine is Associate Professor at the Faculty of Law of the University of Windsor, Canada. Prior to her academic career, she practised law for 14 years. Chapdelaine has written many journal articles on copyright law, has taught in various parts of the world, and is a frequent speaker at conferences worldwide.

Review :
`"In this timely and essential book, Pascale Chapdelaine succeeds in presenting the rights of the users, not in isolation, but through a multiple perspective, as a public getting access to works, as owners of a copy, as well as consumers of a service. Not being deluded by the increasing blurring border between tangibles and intangibles as converging ways of getting access to creative content, she provides the keys to comprehend the ongoing dematerialisation of cultural products and its related set of issues, from restraining user licences and digital rights management to digital exhaustion." ' Séverine Dusollier Professor, Law School, SciencesPo Paris `"This careful and systematic analysis of user rights could not have been published at a better time. Grounded in property, contract and consumer laws, it provides an insightful, well-reasoned and comprehensive multijurisdictional perspective. Regardless of where you stand on the copyright reform debate, this book will provoke you to rethink your position." ' Peter K. Yu, Professor of Law and Director, Center for Law and Intellectual Property, Texas A&M University School of Law `"What accounts for today's switch in talk from authors' rights to public rights of access and use? Dr Pascale Chapdelaine brilliantly analyses the ins and outs of the phenomenon and their implications for copyright law and commerce. A must-read for anyone interested in the struggle between big data and the public in the internet era."' David Vaver, Emeritus Professor of Intellectual Property & Information Technology Law, University of Oxford; Professor of Intellectual Property Law, Osgoode Hall Law School, Toronto `"No longer an heretical idea, user rights in copyright law has been increasingly endorsed by copyright scholars. But no consensus has yet emerged for its normative justification. Pascale Chapdelaine's new book offers a novel theory to explain why users of digital copies of copyrighted works have property-based rights to make a wider array of uses of their copies than many copyright professionals would readily admit. Users don't lose those rights merely because rights holders characterize transactions as licenses or bundle the content in technical protections measures. This book paves the way for future freedoms that users deserve to be respected."' Professor Pamela Samuelson, Berkeley Law, University of California