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This paper argues that the revolution in intellectual property rights is not forward-looking, but backward looking, and that it is not consonant with the purposes of the patent and copyright clause. It is animated by the theory of common law copyright, which deliberately reconceptualizes social relations in order to recast them as property, and which has been with us for centuries. This paper investigates the “mythology of common law copyright,” showing how this reconceptualization has worked both historically and in the present day to push the law in a direction that is ostensibly author-centered, but is actually focused on the rights of intermediaries.

Purpose – This chapter explores the use of music and celebrity endorsements in political campaigns of the United States. It focuses on two aspects: (1) the legality of a political campaign’s use of music at rallies and in advertisements without authorization from the owner of the musical work and (2) a review of the literature on the potential effect of the use of music in political campaigns on voter behavior.

Design/methodology/approach – A brief history of the use of music in political campaigns precedes an examination of the expansion of copyright law protection for music and the legal claims musicians may raise against the unauthorized use of music by political campaigns. The chapter then reviews the potential effect of political campaigns’ use of music and celebrity endorsements on voter behavior.

Findings – A musician’s primary legal protection falls under copyright law, but the courts disagree on whether the unauthorized use of music at political rallies and in political campaign advertisements results in copyright infringement. Social research suggests music and celebrity endorsements affect voter behavior with a likely greater effect on first-time voters.

Originality/value of chapter – This chapter introduces the complicated application of copyright law to the unauthorized use of musical works by political campaigns. Additionally, it notes the limited research on the effect of music and celebrity endorsements on voter behavior even as political campaigns increasingly target niche demographics with specific music selections to motivate voters to vote.

This article seeks to deal with the fundamental conceptual differences between consumer law and copyright law that render the application of consumer law to copyright‐law related conflicts difficult.

Following a normative approach to copyright and consumer law based on an analysis of the relevant literature and case law, the article examines in which situations consumers encounter obstacles when trying to rely on consumer law to invoke “privileges” granted to them under copyright law, such as the private copying exception.

Research shows that most difficulties lie in the fundamental conceptual differences between consumer law and copyright law regarding the objectives and beneficiaries of each regime, as well as diverging conceptions of “property”, “user rights” and “internal market”. Such discrepancies undeniably follow from the fact that each regime traditionally never had to deal with each other's concerns: consumers never played a role in copyright law, whereas copyright protected works were not seen as consumer goods.

By identifying the main conceptual differences between the two legal regimes, the article contributes in an inter‐disciplinary manner to the discussion on the place of the digital consumer under European law.

This paper aims to investigate the potential impacts that differences between UK and US copyright laws for sound recordings have on musicians. It also highlights the needs for continued standardisation of international copyright laws (particularly those for sound recordings), copyright law education for creators, and a need for musicians to re‐think future artistic and managerial decisions.

In this critical analysis of current academic literature and legislation, significant differences between the domestic copyright laws of the UK and USA have been identified. The impacts of these differences on musicians are discussed and conclusions drawn.

Findings suggest that there are several significant differences between the UK and US copyright laws for sound recordings, which do impact on musicians in both countries. However, determining the degree of impact is dependent on several contributing factors: the nationality of the musician; the level of success of the musician; the creative roles adopted by the musician; and the ambition of the musician.

Research scope was limited to the domestic copyright laws of the UK and USA only; and, specifically, the copyright laws for sound recordings. Findings were generalised for all musicians, regardless of type or genre.

This paper is one of the first to investigate the impact of differences in domestic copyright laws on musicians, and identifies several strategy issues that must be considered by musicians when making future artistic and managerial decisions.

To provide information about how changes to the Copyright Law in the European Union have far‐reaching implications for library services; and in particular to illustrate this by showing how library organizations in Germany have reacted to German legal implementation in such a way that they continue to provide services which their users have come to expect of them.

The mandates of the Copyright Law in the European Union are examined and the problems and positions of the various interest groups in amending the German Copyright Law are presented.

The presentation shows that German library organizations are striving to help create a legal framework in which the interests of the rightholders, the providers of services for users and the endusers are balanced. With the increased development of electronic means of storage and duplication and the uncertainty of what the future will bring, the fears of loss by the rightholders have created an atmosphere of mistrust, which makes it difficult to create legislation acceptable to all parties.

The current status of the Copyright Law in Germany is in a state of flux. Depending on the final version of the Law, not only German libraries, but libraries all over the world may find themselves faced with restrictions in international inter‐library loan and thereby be faced with the need to reassess how and if they will be able to offer all the services they have in the past.

Any changes to Copyright Law have far‐reaching effects on the flow of information. Since libraries play an important role as intermediaries between endusers and rightholders, it is imperative that they are aware of the ramifications of any changes to these laws.

The paper examines the background for the current status of the Copyright Law in Germany, presents the positions of the various interest groups, indicates how the flow of information may be affected by any changes and makes a plea for a reasonable solution which will be acceptable to all parties involved.

This paper aims to give a snapshot of the copyright and neighboring rights law of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), illustrating the provisions governing the law. It seeks to frame UAE copyright provisions within the context of the principles of copyright and the structure of international copyright protection.

The article begins with an overview of copyright laws. It highlights the central issues of concern to education, librarianship, and scholarship, depicting the complexity that the digital era has brought on copyright doctrines. It then explains the exclusive rights granted under the law, showing its orientation toward the civil law tradition with its emphasis on moral rights.

The author observes that a key effort to making practical sense of copyright in this region entails educating key communities, and emphasizing the importance of copyright limitations and exceptions pertaining to educational institutions and libraries. He advocates for applying copyright to the advantage of academic and research communities, and offers strategies strengthening the right of use in favor of these communities. Understanding the concepts and principles of copyright will make these communities proponents of sound copyright policies that will safeguard the promotion of learning and the right of public access, while still protecting intellectual property rights.

There has not been any discussion in the library literature on copyright in the UAE and other Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) members – Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar. Therefore, this case study of the UAE copyright and neighboring rights law aims to provoke such discussion. It should be useful to the whole library community, and particularly those in the UAE and other GCC countries.

This paper aims to explore the copyright laws of Saudi Arabia, illustrating the provisions governing the law. It seeks to outline Saudi Arabia copyright law within the framework of the international copyright protection, which include the Berne Convention and the TRIPS agreement.

The paper is a thorough scrutinizing of the legal provisions of the Saudi Copyright Laws in regard to protected works, author's exclusive rights, lawful use of copyrighted works and the exceptions, mandatory licenses, duration of protection, provisions of infringements and penalties. The highlighted issue is concerning the exceptions in regard to public interest, particularly relating to education purposes.

The paper finds that the Saudi Arabia Copyright Laws have met the requirement of the international copyright laws. The conditions for mandatory license and the 12 exceptions which permit lawful usage of copyrighted work under the copyright law without seeking the permission of the author are also in line with the international copyright laws, as public interest is the paramount consideration in exercising these exceptions.

There is lack of study on copyright law in the Saudi Arabia per se. Therefore, this study on the Saudi Arabia copyright laws seeks to fill in this gap and to provoke further discussion on this issue. It should be useful to the academic community, particularly in the Saudi Arabia and the Gulf Cooperation Council countries.

Copyright law has been oft-criticized for its unintended consequences. This paper retells three “tales of the unintended” concerning the 1976 Copyright Act, the present U.S. copyright statute. The first tale focuses on fair use, the second on statutory damages, and the third on formalities. From these three tales, the paper draws five different morals that provide insights into the ongoing process of copyright reform. These insights will enable policymakers and commentators to rethink the ongoing and future development of copyright law.

The purpose of this monograph is to examine the main elements of the Copyright Designs & Patents Act 1988 which received the Royal Assent on the 15th November 1988. The Act provided for a major overhaul of the law on copyright and on registered designs, as well as certain adjustments to patent and trademark law and two major new regimes on performers' rights and design rights. While this is a major domestic reform the law is unlikely to remain unaltered for long because of the move towards a single market within the E.E.C. by 1992. This will lead to the introduction of harmonised regimes on the various elements of intellectual property law such as copyright and industrial design which will no doubt require some readjustment to U.K. domestic law. Recently the E.E.C. Commission published a Green Paper on “Copyright and the Challenge of Technology” which suggests solutions to some questions such as the vexed problem of illegal home taping which are different to those adopted by the U.K. in the new Act. [On 21/12/88 a draft directive on Copyright & Computer Software which proposes a harmonised regime for the protection of computer programs and related matters was published]. It also has to be borne in mind that while Article 222 of the Treaty of Rome states that the treaty does not affect the existence of national intellectual property right regimes the “exercise” of these national rights may be found to infringe the provisions of the Treaty on free movement of goods (Arts. 30–36) or on competition law (Arts. 85–86).

With developments throughout the world, including the recent publication of the Report of the Register of Copyright in the USA on photocopying in libraries, a general overview of copyright as it relates to reprographic reproduction and interlending is appropriate. The European Community is in many ways a microcosm of the international scene as it brings together Continental Roman, Anglo‐Saxon and Scandinavian legal concepts. Whereas Belgium and France take a narrow view of copyright, in the Netherlands this has been broadened by the use of collecting societies, and in the UK the ‘fair dealing’ concept allows a certain latitude to librarians. The impact of British legislation is important because of its influence on many Third World and Commonwealth countries. British law is in the process of being scrutinized for revision. The economic problems associated with copyright are also important in the EC because of non‐discrimination clauses in the Treaty of Rome. In Scandinavia there is a general move towards fair dealing but licensing for multiple copying. In Canada legislation is in dire need of revision, the existing Act dating from 1921. Numerous studies and an attempt to define fair dealing have not yet led to legislation. In the USA the Copyright Amendment Act, which came into force in 1978, has just been reviewed and suggestions made that legislation should be further tightened and libraries and publishers enter into licensing arrangements. A series of legal disputes have further complicated the issue, including a judgement that suppliers of equipment used for infringement are liable for that infringement. In Australia the trend has been towards a more liberal approach to photocopying, which allows reasonable copying, including multiple copying for education, with compensation to the copyright owner where appropriate. The extent of fair dealing is defined in law. New Zealand has legislation based on the British law but with less strict regulations for declarations on the use of copies made. In the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe reproduction without compensation is permitted for specific purposes, namely those that further the well‐being of society as a whole. In China there is no formal legislation and only a glimmer of hope that it may come. Third World countries take a more pragmatic line, although their legislation is naturally influenced by those European countries that have had close links with them in the past. The main aim is to ensure reasonable compensation for their own nationals while not limiting the inflow of technical information, of which most Third World countries are net importers. A major influence in this area is Model Laws, which have been drafted by UNESCO and WIPO and accepted in many developing countries. In general such model laws allow copying, not necessarily only single copying, provided it is not for profit, is for the general welfare of the community and does not impinge on the copyright owner's economic expectations. Overall there is a general trend towards a greater definition of rights on both sides of the ownership controversy, coupled with a more realistic approach to what can and should be protected.