https://hdl.handle.net/2123/2342 2026-06-09T23:52:27Z https://hdl.handle.net/2123/2362 CIVIL JURISDICTION, INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY AND THE INTERNET Fitzgerald, Brian; Shi, Sampsung Xiaoxiang At the core of the civil litigation system is the notion of jurisdiction. In a narrow sense it refers to whether a court has the authority to hear a case in relation to specific people and activities (subject matter) but in a broader sense it also encompasses what law should be applied (choice of law), whether the court is a suitable court to hear the case (choice of court) and the enforcement of judgements. The notion of jurisdiction provides a tool for efficiently managing litigation and traditionally has been based upon notions of connection to a particular territory. In the global transnational world of the Internet the concept of jurisdiction has struggled to find a sensible meaning.1 Does jurisdiction lie everywhere that the Internet runs or is it more narrowly defined? In this chapter we examine recent cases concerning jurisdiction and the Internet before the courts of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) in matters relating to intellectual property. We also consider decisions in Australia and the United States of America (US) and international developments in the area. Presented at the First International Forum on the Content Industry: Legal and Policy Framework for the Digital Content Industry collaboratively held by the East China University of Political Science and Law (http://www.ecupl.edu.cn) and the Queensland University of Technology (http://www.qut.edu.au) in Shanghai, People’s Republic of China, May 2007. This publication is an output of the ARC Centre of Excellence for Creative Industries and Innovation (http://www.cci.edu.au) Queensland University of Technology. 2008-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/2123/2358 COPYRIGHT LAW REFORM AND THE INFORMATION SOCIETY IN INDONESIA Antons, Christoph Presented at the First International Forum on the Content Industry: Legal and Policy Framework for the Digital Content Industry collaboratively held by the East China University of Political Science and Law (http://www.ecupl.edu.cn) and the Queensland University of Technology (http://www.qut.edu.au) in Shanghai, People’s Republic of China, May 2007. This publication is an output of the ARC Centre of Excellence for Creative Industries and Innovation (http://www.cci.edu.au) Queensland University of Technology. 2008-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/2123/2356 IMPROVING THE REGULATIVE ENVIRONMENT TO FACILITATE THE EXPLOITATION OF INFORMATION RESOURCES IN THE PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF CHINA Zhi, Xiao-Li; Gao, Fuping A supportive regulatory environment is necessary to facilitate the development and utilisation of information resources in China. The legal system and its enabling policies for information resources should focus on removing all the macro-level obstacles in order to promote and ensure the positive feedback effect of information cycles. This would include constructing a competitive market, enhancing infrastructure, strengthening taxation and financing the supporting system. The core interest in information exploitation is intellectual property (IP). There are five levels of IP protection: judicial trial, administrative execution, technological measures, collective management and industry discipline as well as private control. While strengthening IP protection ranks as the Government’s priority policy, the free distribution and sharing of information should be strongly advocated to optimise the development and utilisation of information resources. Digital information is playing a more significant role in our society than physical goods in regard to quantity and effects. Digital information is changing the whole world, with for instance, E-government, Ecommerce and E-life. Information resources have become an important asset and key driver for social development. The ‘Developmental Strategy for Informatisation in China 2006-2020’ issued by the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and the State Council declares that informatisation is a key strategy for maintaining national competitiveness and sustainability. 1 The key of informatisation is the development and utilization of information resources. While this is rather weak in China, enhancing the development and utilisation of information resources has been ranked as a priority government task because of the value in constructing a flexible and enabling regulatory framework. Presented at the First International Forum on the Content Industry: Legal and Policy Framework for the Digital Content Industry collaboratively held by the East China University of Political Science and Law (http://www.ecupl.edu.cn) and the Queensland University of Technology (http://www.qut.edu.au) in Shanghai, People’s Republic of China, May 2007. This publication is an output of the ARC Centre of Excellence for Creative Industries and Innovation (http://www.cci.edu.au) Queensland University of Technology. 2008-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/2123/2364 NEW HOPE FOR CONSUMERS OF DIGITAL COPYRIGHT MATERIAL IN HONG KONG Lim, Yee Fen Articles 139 and 140 of the Basic Law of Hong Kong state that protection should be given to intellectual property rights in Hong Kong. It comes as no surprise then that Hong Kong has a suite of legislation dealing with each of the major intellectual property regimes, namely copyright, trade marks, patents and registered designs. The copyright regime is enshrined in the Copyright Ordinance (Cap 528) and like most other jurisdictions, registration is not a pre-requisite for obtaining copyright protection, nor are there any formalities that need to be complied with before copyright protection is afforded to a work in Hong Kong. The Copyright Ordinance gives protection to a wide range of creative outputs including literary works (including computer programs), dramatic, musical and artistic works, sound recordings, films, broadcasts, published editions as well as rights in performances and moral rights. Hong Kong is a member of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and its intellectual property laws generally meet the requirements set out in the WTO Agreement on the Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights Agreement (TRIPs). Presented at the First International Forum on the Content Industry: Legal and Policy Framework for the Digital Content Industry collaboratively held by the East China University of Political Science and Law (http://www.ecupl.edu.cn) and the Queensland University of Technology (http://www.qut.edu.au) in Shanghai, People’s Republic of China, May 2007. This publication is an output of the ARC Centre of Excellence for Creative Industries and Innovation (http://www.cci.edu.au) Queensland University of Technology. 2008-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/2123/2361 CRIMINAL INFRINGEMENT OF COPYRIGHT: THE BIG CROOK CASE Gething, Steven On 24th October 2005 an unemployed man from Hong Kong, Chan Nai Ming aka “Big Crook”, received the dubious honour of becoming the first person in the world to be sentenced to a custodial sentence for using the Bit Torrent protocol to infringe copyright. 1 This chapter explores the definitions of “affect prejudicially” and “distribution” in the context of criminal law; issues which emerged from the case. Presented at the First International Forum on the Content Industry: Legal and Policy Framework for the Digital Content Industry collaboratively held by the East China University of Political Science and Law (http://www.ecupl.edu.cn) and the Queensland University of Technology (http://www.qut.edu.au) in Shanghai, People’s Republic of China, May 2007. This publication is an output of the ARC Centre of Excellence for Creative Industries and Innovation (http://www.cci.edu.au) Queensland University of Technology. 2008-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/2123/2348 Front Matter Fitzgerald, Brian; Gao, Fuping; O'Brien, Damien; Shi, Sampsung Xiaoxiang Presented at the First International Forum on the Content Industry: Legal and Policy Framework for the Digital Content Industry collaboratively held by the East China University of Political Science and Law (http://www.ecupl.edu.cn) and the Queensland University of Technology (http://www.qut.edu.au) in Shanghai, People’s Republic of China, May 2007. This publication is an output of the ARC Centre of Excellence for Creative Industries and Innovation (http://www.cci.edu.au) Queensland University of Technology. 2008-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/2123/2353 CRIMINALIZING PRIMARY COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT IN SINGAPORE: WHO ARE THE REAL ONLINE CULPRITS Saw, Cheng Lim; Leong, Susanna H S It is axiomatic in the international copyright arena for the law to impose criminal liability on secondary acts of copyright infringement. Such acts of infringement (which may also attract civil liability) typically entail the commercial exploitation of infringing copies of copyright material by unlicensed vendors. Take, for example, the ubiquitous street vendor in Bangkok’s hugely-popular Patpong district who, on a daily basis, hawks pirated CDs and DVDs to throngs of foreign tourists. Although street scenes such as these are fairly commonplace and representative of the livelihoods of numerous other unlicensed vendors the world over, the law clearly frowns upon such practices and, for some time now, has imposed penal sanctions on these secondary infringers of copyright.1 The use of the criminal law under such circumstances to aid in the effective enforcement of intellectual property rights is understandable, because the sale of each unauthorised copy of music, film or software will, correspondingly, deprive the relevant copyright owner of the economic benefits of a legitimate transaction. Yet the fact remains that many of these so-called copyright pirates have continued to operate under the present legal environment simply because of high consumer demand; there is, after all, a sizeable global market for illegitimate products of intellectual property. The irony, of course, is this: that whilst it is a criminal offence to trade in illegitimate copies of copyright material, it is – at least under copyright law – not a crime nor an actionable civil wrong to purchase or acquire such copies for private and domestic use.2 However, in light of the rapid advancements in computer, digital and Internet technologies, consumers and other end-users have begun to take things into their own hands. Instead of purchasing illegitimate copies of copyright material from the street vendor, they now discover that it is far more efficient and cost-effective to acquire digital copies for themselves in the privacy of their own rooms from certain Internet websites or through peer-to-peer (P2P) file-sharing networks. They may further decide to share these digital copies with others in the Internet or P2P file-sharing community. In the process, however, they inadvertently expose themselves to civil action for having committed primary acts of copyright infringement, and, in Singapore at least, they may also face criminal prosecution if primary infringers like themselves are found guilty of wilful infringements of copyright. Against this backdrop, the authors will, in this paper, examine the newly introduced criminal provisions in Singapore’s copyright legislation which target primary acts of copyright infringement and will consider, in particular, the consequences of prosecuting offenders pursuant to these provisions in the context of a number of hypothetical scenarios involving acts of infringement committed on the Internet. These Internet-based scenarios are particularly relevant and timely in the present discussion in light of recent reports in the local media concerning – (1) the various measures taken by the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore (and other local agencies) to encourage all companies and businesses to use legal or licensed software in the conduct of their day-to-day business; as well as (2) the recent arrest and prosecution of two individuals in Singapore for allegedly distributing unauthorised music files via an Internet chat program.3 This paper therefore aims to offer an academic perspective of the various types of online activity which, in the authors’ view, will likely attract criminal liability under the new provisions (as well as those which ought not to). Presented at the First International Forum on the Content Industry: Legal and Policy Framework for the Digital Content Industry collaboratively held by the East China University of Political Science and Law (http://www.ecupl.edu.cn) and the Queensland University of Technology (http://www.qut.edu.au) in Shanghai, People’s Republic of China, May 2007. This publication is an output of the ARC Centre of Excellence for Creative Industries and Innovation (http://www.cci.edu.au) Queensland University of Technology. 2008-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/2123/2347 COPYRIGHT CHALLENGES FOR USER GENERATED INTERMEDIARIES: VIACOM V YOUTUBE AND GOOGLE O'Brien, Damien YouTube, the video sharing website has risen to be one of the most popular and profitable websites on the Internet. What was first created in February 2005 as a platform for people all over the world to share videos, has now developed into a billion dollar business, that is an integral part of the Google corporation. However, while the success and popularity of YouTube is clear, the associated copyright issues which lie at the very core of the YouTube platform, are far from settled. Evidencing the legal uncertainty surrounding the operation of YouTube, is the recent high profile litigation which has been brought by entertainment company, Viacom International. The case filed in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York and any subsequent appeals, have the potential to be one of the most influential copyright decisions in the digital era. YouTube is not the only user generated intermediary to have encountered legal difficulties, rather it exemplifies the copyright challenges facing user generated intermediaries. Indeed, the evolution of Web 2.0 and other new digital technologies have enabled digital content to be easily reproduced and communicated online, without the permission of the copyright owner. The following chapter will provide an analysis of the recent Viacom v YouTube litigtion, including the claims brought by Viacom, both party’s arguments and an examination of the key issues, which are likely to decide the outcome of the case. The chapter will also consider copyright challenges for other user generated intermediaries, such as blogs and wikis. Finally, the chapter will provide an analysis from an Australian perspective of some of the copyright challenges which user generated intermediaries are likely to encounter under Australian copyright law. Presented at the First International Forum on the Content Industry: Legal and Policy Framework for the Digital Content Industry collaboratively held by the East China University of Political Science and Law (http://www.ecupl.edu.cn) and the Queensland University of Technology (http://www.qut.edu.au) in Shanghai, People’s Republic of China, May 2007. This publication is an output of the ARC Centre of Excellence for Creative Industries and Innovation (http://www.cci.edu.au) Queensland University of Technology. 2008-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/2123/2346 FROM MOUSTACHES TO MY SPACES Howkins, John Presented at the First International Forum on the Content Industry: Legal and Policy Framework for the Digital Content Industry collaboratively held by the East China University of Political Science and Law (http://www.ecupl.edu.cn) and the Queensland University of Technology (http://www.qut.edu.au) in Shanghai, People’s Republic of China, May 2007. This publication is an output of the ARC Centre of Excellence for Creative Industries and Innovation (http://www.cci.edu.au) Queensland University of Technology. 2008-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/2123/2355 INTERNET CONTENT POLICY AND REGULATION IN AUSTRALIA Coroneos, Peter It can generally be observed that the propensity for creating new internet content regulation within a country results from the interaction of three forces. Firstly, there are the cultural values and institutions within a country. ‘Institutions’ include the traditional media who have historically acted as drivers of the debate about the harms of being online. Sometimes they are more sensationalist than is justified. In any event, these values and institutions shape the political debate and determine the enthusiasm with which legislatures bring forth new laws, in response, as it were, to public concern. In Australia, the traditional media have been very active in pointing out the ‘dangers’ of the internet. To a large degree they have played on the fears of a public which is still coming to terms with the internet revolution. Although the number of Australians online has progressively grown over the last 10 years, from a minority of mainly young, affluent early adopters, to today where the internet is effectively a mainstream medium with almost three quarters of the population online,1 still the depth of user experience remains thin enough that we see the occasional headline proclaiming the menace of some new internet threat or other. This is enough to fuel minority groups with their own agendas, to proclaim the internet a risk to traditional values/our children’s safety/national security/the future of their business model or whatever cause suits them. This may play all the way through to the political level where we eventually see new laws proposed. This dynamic is certainly not unique to Australia, but we have nevertheless seen the mechanism operate here with sometimes startling results. Presented at the First International Forum on the Content Industry: Legal and Policy Framework for the Digital Content Industry collaboratively held by the East China University of Political Science and Law (http://www.ecupl.edu.cn) and the Queensland University of Technology (http://www.qut.edu.au) in Shanghai, People’s Republic of China, May 2007. This publication is an output of the ARC Centre of Excellence for Creative Industries and Innovation (http://www.cci.edu.au) Queensland University of Technology. 2008-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/2123/2350 REGULATION OF THE INTERACTIVE DIGITAL MEDIA INDUSTRY IN SINGAPORE Seng, Daniel The latest “buzz” in Singapore is interactive digital media (IDM), a diverse industry that includes technologies such as video games and interactive advertisements. In January this year, the Singapore government announced that it would target the IDM sector as one of the key growth areas for the future, and provide the infrastructure for Singapore to be educated in and exposed to this new technology.1 The Singapore government has openly committed to setting aside S$500 million over the next five years to develop this industry.2 And to deal with the social, technical, legal and regulatory implications of this industry, on 1 April 2007, the Singapore government also set up a high level advisory council which will make recommendations to the government on how these issues will be managed while keeping pace with the development of this industry in Singapore.3 While the Advisory Council on the Impact of New Media on Society4 studies and deliberates on the issues, the existing legal and regulatory framework that continues to apply to new media has been described as based on a “light touch” approach. This paper seeks to summarise the existing position in Singapore, and tries to describe the policies and philosophies behind the “light touch” approach as elucidated from the laws and regulations in Singapore. Presented at the First International Forum on the Content Industry: Legal and Policy Framework for the Digital Content Industry collaboratively held by the East China University of Political Science and Law (http://www.ecupl.edu.cn) and the Queensland University of Technology (http://www.qut.edu.au) in Shanghai, People’s Republic of China, May 2007. This publication is an output of the ARC Centre of Excellence for Creative Industries and Innovation (http://www.cci.edu.au) Queensland University of Technology. 2008-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/2123/2365 COPYRIGHT PROTECTION IN THE PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF CHINA Xu, Chao Presented at the First International Forum on the Content Industry: Legal and Policy Framework for the Digital Content Industry collaboratively held by the East China University of Political Science and Law (http://www.ecupl.edu.cn) and the Queensland University of Technology (http://www.qut.edu.au) in Shanghai, People’s Republic of China, May 2007. This publication is an output of the ARC Centre of Excellence for Creative Industries and Innovation (http://www.cci.edu.au) Queensland University of Technology. 2008-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/2123/2359 CHINESE COPYRIGHT LAW, PEER PRODUCTION AND THE PARTICIPATORY MEDIA AGE: AN OLD REGIME IN A NEW WORLD Shi, Sampsung Xiaoxiang Presented at the First International Forum on the Content Industry: Legal and Policy Framework for the Digital Content Industry collaboratively held by the East China University of Political Science and Law (http://www.ecupl.edu.cn) and the Queensland University of Technology (http://www.qut.edu.au) in Shanghai, People’s Republic of China, May 2007. This publication is an output of the ARC Centre of Excellence for Creative Industries and Innovation (http://www.cci.edu.au) Queensland University of Technology. 2008-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/2123/2363 THE AUSTRALIA-CHINA FREE TRADE AGREEMENT: IMPLICATIONS FOR INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY LAW Ogge-Cowan, Jane Intellectual property is not usually the first thing that people think of when they talk about the Australia-China Free Trade Agreement1 (FTA) – an FTA is about ‘trade’: market access for agricultural products and manufactured goods, banking and educational services, easier access for Chinese investors and workers into Australia – the significance of intellectual property to trade is not foremost in most peoples’ minds. But when you ask Australian business people what they think about doing business in China, a great number in many fields are concerned about whether their innovative work will be protected – this is true for architects, manufacturers and educational software designers. And for innovative Chinese companies, whether they are domestically or internationally focussed, intellectual property is an increasingly important issue. Perhaps the first thing to say about this topic is that we don’t know what the actual implications of the FTA on intellectual property regulation will be. The FTA negotiations are concluded as a single undertaking – one whole agreement – and a key principle of that, is that nothing is agreed until everything is agreed. Therefore in this regard it can be confidently said at this point, that nothing has yet been agreed, and that certainly applies to the intellectual property component of the negotiations. The following chapter will examine the implications of the proposed Australia-China FTA on intellectual property law. In particular, the chapter will consider key issues, such as why Australia believes it is important to include a separate chapter on intellectual property in the Australia-China FTA. Finally, the chapter will conclude by drawing some conclusions on what implications the Australia-China FTA might have on intellectual property regulation. Presented at the First International Forum on the Content Industry: Legal and Policy Framework for the Digital Content Industry collaboratively held by the East China University of Political Science and Law (http://www.ecupl.edu.cn) and the Queensland University of Technology (http://www.qut.edu.au) in Shanghai, People’s Republic of China, May 2007. This publication is an output of the ARC Centre of Excellence for Creative Industries and Innovation (http://www.cci.edu.au) Queensland University of Technology. 2008-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/2123/2354 A LEGAL FRAMEWORK FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE CONTENT INDUSTRY IN THE PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF CHINA Gao, Fuping Developing the digital content industry is ranked as a key part of the Chinese informationisation strategy and an important strategic measure necessary to build a creative nation. The distribution activities related to network cultural products can be grouped into two categories, with one category subject to private laws such as copyright or contract laws, and the other related to public or regulatory laws. Therefore the digital content industry requires two types of order: copyright order and regulatory order. However a favourable industry order is hard to achieve given the many challenges present. Both digital works and network communication challenge the copyright order. Network communication is also a new media and the convergence of networks challenges the regulatory order. This chapter highlights that the focus of the modern copyright regime is to seek a balance between the interests of the copyright owners and the public. A feasible copyright order should rationally assign rights and responsibilities among the stakeholders to construct a trade or market mechanism that is capable of inspiring creators whilst facilitating the distribution and consumption of digital content products. As for the regulatory order, innovations in regime and policies are required to cater for any new particulars of network media. This chapter proposes three principles for regulating the digital content industry: 1) Separating the regulation of content from the network to ensure the openness of networks and communication channels, specifically the openness of industry entrance. 2) Adopting a registerapproval instead of a licence-based system for market entrance. 3) Abandoning or removing the application based preconditions for network content by setting up enforceable standards for content legality. These principles will change subject-orientated regulations on the digital content industry to behaviour-oriented regulations. As the digital content industry is an integrated and inclusive industry, it is necessary to coordinate or merge the current framework of disparate government functions. The Chinese government may find this challenging, because the development of the digital content industry heavily depends on forces operating inside the industry itself. It is not only impractical but also impossible to solely rely on the government to control cyberspace and its social intermediaries - industry self-discipline should come into effect. A dual governance mode combining government regulation with industry self-regulation will have significant consequences for the digital content industry. Presented at the First International Forum on the Content Industry: Legal and Policy Framework for the Digital Content Industry collaboratively held by the East China University of Political Science and Law (http://www.ecupl.edu.cn) and the Queensland University of Technology (http://www.qut.edu.au) in Shanghai, People’s Republic of China, May 2007. This publication is an output of the ARC Centre of Excellence for Creative Industries and Innovation (http://www.cci.edu.au) Queensland University of Technology. 2008-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/2123/2360 CREATIVE COMMONS LICENCE: AN ALTERNATIVE SOLUTION TO COPYRIGHT IN THE NEW MEDIA ARENA Wang, Chunyan Presented at the First International Forum on the Content Industry: Legal and Policy Framework for the Digital Content Industry collaboratively held by the East China University of Political Science and Law (http://www.ecupl.edu.cn) and the Queensland University of Technology (http://www.qut.edu.au) in Shanghai, People’s Republic of China, May 2007. This publication is an output of the ARC Centre of Excellence for Creative Industries and Innovation (http://www.cci.edu.au) Queensland University of Technology. 2008-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/2123/2352 THE NEW RIGHT OF COMMUNICATION THROUGH THE INFORMATION NETWORK IN THE PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF CHINA Wang, Qian While China has not joined the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) Copyright Treaty (WCT) or the WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty (WPPT), China amended its Copyright Law in 2001 in accordance with Article 8 of the WCT and Articles 10 and 14 of the WPPT. As a result, a new exclusive right of communication through the information network (hereafter referred to as the ‘right of network communication’) was introduced into the Copyright Law 1990 (amended 2001) for the benefit of copyright owners and performers and producers of sound and video recordings. The adoption of the right of network communication has raised the level of copyright protection as required by Article 8 of the WCT and Articles 10 and 14 of the WPPT. Consequently, uploading a work or recording onto a website for unauthorised distribution through the Internet will infringe the copyright owner, producer and performer’s (if the recording embodies the performance) right of network communication, unless the distribution constitutes fair use. However, since the provision on the right of network communication in the Copyright Law has a liberal application, more needs to be done to properly apply this right in complicated cases. In addition, the new technologies and business models appearing in China bring new challenges which call for clarification on the meaning of the network communication right, and either creating or improving provisions in the Copyright Law. For example, when a website provides hyperlinks to infringing MP3 files, or ‘pirated’ sites containing a number of infringing files, will the website operator be directly responsible for infringing the right of network communication, or for indirectly contributing to the infringing act done by the linked sites? Moreover, if the copyright owner sues the website providing the hyperlinks, but does not give a written notice warning it of the infringing nature of the linked files or sites in advance, can the court determine that the website has actual knowledge of the infringing act occurring on the linked site? There are no clear answers to these questions in the Copyright Law. To deal with these new challenges the State Council drated the Regulation on the Protection of the Right of Communication through the Information Network (‘Communication Right Regulation’),1 and the Supreme Court is trying to give interpretations on the right of network communication in specific cases. Nevertheless there are still disputes over the application of this new right. The competing interest groups, which include major record labels and the Internet industry, have opposing views, which makes it difficult for new legislation and judicial interpretation. This paper explores the nature of the new right of network communication in China and discusses its relationship with other exclusive rights, in particular the right of reproduction and the right of distribution. This paper also identifies the hotly debated questions in relation to applying the right of network communication and attempts to provide answers. In addition, the paper provides a proposal to introduce specific provisions of indirect copyright infringement and insights on the judicial test that should be applied by the courts in determining an act of indirect infringement. Presented at the First International Forum on the Content Industry: Legal and Policy Framework for the Digital Content Industry collaboratively held by the East China University of Political Science and Law (http://www.ecupl.edu.cn) and the Queensland University of Technology (http://www.qut.edu.au) in Shanghai, People’s Republic of China, May 2007. This publication is an output of the ARC Centre of Excellence for Creative Industries and Innovation (http://www.cci.edu.au) Queensland University of Technology. 2008-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/2123/2351 INTERNET CONTENT PROVIDER LICENCES IN THE PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF CHINA’S INTERNET INDUSTRY: A PRACTICAL PERSPECTIVE Sha, Wentao; Yu, Difei The provision of internet services in China is governed by a detailed regulatory regime. This chapter will outline the basic legal framework for such regulation and highlight current issues created by the existing model. Presented at the First International Forum on the Content Industry: Legal and Policy Framework for the Digital Content Industry collaboratively held by the East China University of Political Science and Law (http://www.ecupl.edu.cn) and the Queensland University of Technology (http://www.qut.edu.au) in Shanghai, People’s Republic of China, May 2007. This publication is an output of the ARC Centre of Excellence for Creative Industries and Innovation (http://www.cci.edu.au) Queensland University of Technology. 2008-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/2123/2345 WHY EMERGING BUSINESS MODELS AND NOT COPYRIGHT LAW ARE THE KEY TO MONETISING CONTENT ONLINE Priest, Eric The multimedia Internet is here to stay. Rich media – including videos, music, podcasts, and flash animation – is already a key feature of the Internet experience, and will only grow in diversity and importance. As Internet users increasingly crave – and technology increasingly enables – multimedia content delivered on demand over broadband connections, the number of songs, videos, and other media online will increase exponentially to feed the demand. As online media consumption increases, so will expectations for its capacity to generate revenue for content owners and creators. Analysts boldly predict a bright future for the entertainment industries, especially in Asia, with broadband Internet cited as a key growth driver.1 The main point of contention in the 2007 Hollywood writers’ strike was compensation for media streamed or downloaded over the Internet.2 Yet, to date, the vast majority of music and video acquired or consumed online is free and uncompensated. Despite the rising expectations for monetising content on the Web, no clear sustainable, scalable model for monetising content has emerged that compare to the level of revenues copyright owners have enjoyed in the “physical” (as opposed to online) market. This chapter considers the primary strategies that the international music and film industries have employed to date, namely lawsuits and technological protections, and why these strategies have failed to produce a viable path to long-term revenue generation. I argue that content owners should not hold out hope that using law (in the form of copyright infringement lawsuits against individuals) or technology (in the form of digital rights management encryption software) will unlock the Web’s potential for monetising their content. Instead, successful monetisation of content online will come through business models that can harness and monetise the current behaviour of Internet users. There are three emerging such models, each of which has significant potential and challenges: retail online content subscriptions, ad-supported content, and voluntary blanket licensing. The following discussion is mostly broad, outlining circumstances facing copyright owners globally, and some emerging potential solutions. Nevertheless, I make a point throughout to highlight the situation in China in particular. Why? China is a challenging but dynamic Internet and digital media market, and is in fact the first market in the world where all three of the emerging models discussed in this chapter are actually being deployed in an effort to jumpstart the digital creative economy. China is an important market for the rest of the world to watch regarding emerging monetisation models. Lastly this chapter is not meant to be a comprehensive overview of the many innovative ways that musicians, filmmakers, and other creators and companies are using the Web to make money from their content. Undoubtedly the Web has empowered many small and medium-sized content owners to distribute their works and connect with their fans in exciting and unprecedented ways. The purpose of this chapter is to explore the Web’s potential for generating wide-scale, significant, and sustainable content revenues for the entertainment industry, including minor and major content owners. Presented at the First International Forum on the Content Industry: Legal and Policy Framework for the Digital Content Industry collaboratively held by the East China University of Political Science and Law (http://www.ecupl.edu.cn) and the Queensland University of Technology (http://www.qut.edu.au) in Shanghai, People’s Republic of China, May 2007. This publication is an output of the ARC Centre of Excellence for Creative Industries and Innovation (http://www.cci.edu.au) Queensland University of Technology. 2008-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/2123/2349 THE JUDICIAL PROTECTION OF COPYRIGHT ON THE INTERNET IN THE PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF CHINA Zhipei Jiang CJ The legal system for copyright protection on the Internet has been established for years, although the Regulation on the Protection of the Right of Communication through Information Networks (Communication Right Regulation) was only issued in 2006. 1 Since the late 1990s we have gained approximately ten years experience in dealing with cases involving Internet intellectual property disputes. In this chapter, I would like to briefly introduce and then discuss the development of judicial protection for Internet digital copyright in China. Presented at the First International Forum on the Content Industry: Legal and Policy Framework for the Digital Content Industry collaboratively held by the East China University of Political Science and Law (http://www.ecupl.edu.cn) and the Queensland University of Technology (http://www.qut.edu.au) in Shanghai, People’s Republic of China, May 2007. This publication is an output of the ARC Centre of Excellence for Creative Industries and Innovation (http://www.cci.edu.au) Queensland University of Technology. 2008-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/2123/2357 COPYRIGHT 2010: THE FUTURE OF COPYRIGHT LAW Fitzgerald, Brian 2006 marked the 30th anniversary of the US Copyright Act 1976,1 2008 marks the 40th anniversary of the Australian Copyright Act 19682 and 2010 marks the 300th anniversary of the Statute of Anne. There is no doubt that concepts about how to manage, control and share knowledge, culture and creativity existed in societies well before 1709/103 but it is the Statute of Anne that is the symbolic birthplace of what we know as modern copyright law.4 As we enter an era of unprecedented knowledge and cultural production and dissemination we are challenged to reconsider the fundamentals of copyright law and how it serves the needs of life, liberty and economy in the 21st century. More radical proposals advocate the abolition of any legislative and regulatory regime in order to leave the trading (both commercial and non commercial) of ideas to other mechanisms such as politics, the market or social networks. More moderate reforms – within the framework of the current regime – have been the centre of discussion at Professor Hugh Hansen’s Fordham International Intellectual Property Conference (2007), a specialist workshop run by Professor Pamela Samuelson in July 2007 in Napa Valley5 and will be further discussed at a world congress proposed by creative economy guru and Adelphi Charter6 figurehead John Howkins7 to celebrate or commiserate the Statute of Anne in 2010. Presented at the First International Forum on the Content Industry: Legal and Policy Framework for the Digital Content Industry collaboratively held by the East China University of Political Science and Law (http://www.ecupl.edu.cn) and the Queensland University of Technology (http://www.qut.edu.au) in Shanghai, People’s Republic of China, May 2007. This publication is an output of the ARC Centre of Excellence for Creative Industries and Innovation (http://www.cci.edu.au) Queensland University of Technology. 2008-01-01T00:00:00Z