P. Bernt Hugenholtz (ed.), Copyright Reconstructed

• Author: Thomas Dreier
• Position: Prof. Dr. iur.; M.C.J. (New York University); Director, Center for Applied Legal Studies at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Karlsruhe, and Honorary Professor at the University of Freiburg, Germany
• Pages: 338-340

2018

Thomas Dreier

338

3

P. Bernt Hugenholtz (ed.),

Copyright Reconstructed

Rethinking Copyright’s Economic Rights in a Time of Highly

Dynamic Technological and Economic Change,

Information Law Series, Vol. 41, Wolters Kluwer, Alphen aan

den Rijn, 2018

by Thomas Dreier, Prof. Dr. iur.; M.C.J. (New York University); Director, Center for Applied Legal Studies at

the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Karlsruhe, and Honorary Professor at the University of Freiburg,

Germany.

© 2018 Thomas Dreier

Everybody may disseminate this ar ticle by electronic m eans and make it available for downloa d under the terms and

conditions of the Digital P eer Publishing Licence (DPPL). A copy of the license text may be obtain ed at http://nbn-resolving.

de/urn:nbn:de:0009-dppl-v3-en8.

Recommended citation: Th omas Dreier, Book Review: P. Bernt Hugenholtz (ed.), Copyr ight Reconstructed: Ret hinking

Copyright’s Economic Rights in a T ime of Highly Dynamic Technological and Economic Change, 9 (2018) JIPI TEC 338 para 1.

1

The fact that copyright law is coming under pressure

due to digital technology and, in particular, the

networking of an increasing number of mobile

devices has not only recently been acknowledged.

Moreover, the economic, as well as cultural

importance of copyright, copyrighted subject matter

and the copyright industries has consistently risen

over the last few decades (with copyright-intensive

industries representing almost 11.6 million of jobs

– 5.4% of employment in the EU – and 6.8% of EU

GDP; see Factsheet, European Commission, 2018).

However, up until today, copyright statutes use

legal terms and contain rules that have their roots

in the early days of book printing (“reproduction”)

and of sound records, as well as of broadcasting

(“public communication”). The use of an essentially

scholastic method applied to interpret these terms

and rules with regard to problems of digitization

and networking, however, sometimes leads to

strange results. Above all, this does not do justice

to neither the economic current framework for

the exploitation of copyrighted works and related

subject matter, nor to the economic business models

and technical congurations based on them. In the

words of the promotional yer of the book: “The

historical evolution of copyright has led to a growing

disconnect between the legal denitions of economic

rights and the business and technological realities

they regulate, eroding copyright’s normative content

and distorting the scope of its economic rights.” This

is all well known, and yet there are not many studies

that undertake, or at least aim at, a comprehensive

reconstruction of existing rights with regard to

copyrighted works. However, undertaking such an

exercise is of major importance, particularly since

the CJEU got itself entangled in interpreting the

existing exclusive rights without being able to design

a coherent picture which could satisfy the needs of

the digital environment – which was mainly due to

the isolated cases that are being referred. Moreover,

the European legislature does no longer seem to

have the political power to design and implement a

legal system which constitutes an adequate response

to digital challenges, but rather contends itself right

from the outset with what is politically feasible, as it

is well demonstrated by the rather restricted scope

of the EU Commission’s proposal on a Directive on

Copyright in the Digital Market.

Book Review