Amoha Sharma and Jahnavi Mitra examine the altered scope of digital rights management, and provide suggestions to harmonize the opposing interests of content creators and users.
Abstract
Through the advent of globalization, an exponential increase in digitization has been experienced all over the world. Newer and better technologies have spurred the creation of intellectual works that are afforded legal protection. At the same time, the change in the medium of the work affects its dissemination and alters the mode of its protection. Opposing demands with regard to protection have been made by creators and users, which has led to the polarisation of the debate between rights of content creators and public interest in the created works. Concerns range from the protection of economic interests of creators and apprehension of over-appropriation of their works on one hand, and the rhetoric of dissemination of knowledge and public policy on the other. The doctrine of fair use emerged to quell the protests from both sides and envisaged an arrangement where certain uses of copyrighted works are excluded from the purview of infringement of copyrights. However, the introduction of digital rights management regimes enables copyright holders to restrict the right of use to an unprecedented extent, thereby reducing the scope of applicability of the doctrine of fair use. This paper seeks to examine the altered scope of the doctrine, and provides suggestions to harmonize the opposing interests of content creators and users, creating a secure digital environment that encourages innovation without compromising the right to information.