Defences to Copyright Infringement

Defences to copyright infringement have gained increased significance over the past twenty years. The fourth industrial revolution emerged with the development of innovative copy-reliant services and business models, transforming the way in which copyright works can be used, from digital learning methods to mass digitization initiatives, media monitoring services, image transformation tools, and content mining technologies. The lawfulness of such innovative services and business methods, which arguably have the potential to enhance public welfare, is dubious and challenges copyright law. EU copyright contains specifically enumerated, narrowly drafted, and strictly interpreted defensive rules, often taking the form of the so-called exceptions and limitations to copyright. Because the fourth industrial revolution promises innovation and business growth—stated objectives of EU copyright—it invites an examination of defensive rules as a whole. The book adopts a holistic approach in its exploration of the limits of permissibility under EU copyright, including legislatively mentioned exceptions and limitations, doctrinal principles, and rules external to copyright, with a view to unveiling possible gaps and overlaps, offering a novel classification of defensive rules, and evaluating the adaptability of the law towards technological change. Discussing recent legislative developments, such as the provisions of the Digital Single Market Directive, Court of Justice of the European Union case law, and insights from national laws and cases, the book tells the story of copyright from the perspective of copyright defences, offering positivist and normative insights into law and doctrine and arguing towards a principle-based understanding of the scope of defences that could inform future law and policy making.