Reconceptualising Copyright Markets: Disseminative Competition as a Key Functional Dimension

2021 ◽  
Vol 44 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Cheryl Foong
Keyword(s):  
Competition Law ◽  
Copyright Infringement ◽  
Digital Economy ◽  
Functional Dimension ◽  
The Creation ◽  
Market Needs ◽  
Ambiguous Position

The notion of ‘markets’ occupies a prominent yet ambiguous position in copyright discourse. When the term is raised, the copyright owner’s market tends to be taken as its implicit meaning, perpetuating an assumption that the market needs to be protected solely to preserve incentives to create. This dominant narrative overshadows an important dimension of copyright markets – disseminative competition, which is characterised by rival disseminators competing for inputs (copyright content) and audiences (copyright consumers). With the aid of competition law principles, this article distinguishes competition for dissemination of content from competition for the creation of content. It underscores the importance of dissemination markets to a well-functioning copyright system and shows how certain copyright doctrines substantively impact on disseminative competition. In reframing contemporary understandings of copyright markets, this article highlights the biases in copyright infringement analysis that may favour incumbent content disseminators to the detriment of a vibrant and innovative digital economy.

scholarly journals Digital Economy, Big Data and Competition Law

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 53-89
Author(s):  
Roberto Augusto Castellanos Pfeiffer
Keyword(s):  
Big Data ◽  
Data Protection ◽  
Personal Data ◽  
Competition Law ◽  
Digital Economy ◽  
Data Driven ◽  
Dominant Position ◽  
Privacy Concerns ◽  
Sense Data ◽  
Abuse Of Dominant Position

Big data has a very important role in the digital economy, because firms have accurate tools to collect, store, analyse, treat, monetise and disseminate voluminous amounts of data. Companies have been improving their revenues with information about the behaviour, preferences, needs, expectations, desires and evaluations of their consumers. In this sense, data could be considered as a productive input. The article focuses on the current discussion regarding the possible use of competition law and policy to address privacy concerns related to big data companies. The most traditional and powerful tool to deal with privacy concerns is personal data protection law. Notwithstanding, the article examines whether competition law should play an important role in data-driven markets where privacy is a key factor. The article suggests a new approach to the following antitrust concepts in cases related to big data platforms: assessment of market power, merger notification thresholds, measurement of merger effects on consumer privacy, and investigation of abuse of dominant position. In this context, the article analyses decisions of competition agencies which reviewed mergers in big data-driven markets, such as Google/DoubleClick, Facebook/ WhatsApp and Microsoft/LinkedIn. It also reviews investigations of alleged abuse of dominant position associated with big data, in particular the proceeding opened by the Bundeskartellamt against Facebook, in which the German antitrust authority prohibited the data processing policy imposed by Facebook on its users. The article concludes that it is important to harmonise the enforcement of competition, consumer and data protection polices in order to choose the proper way to protect the users of dominant platforms, maximising the benefits of the data-driven economy.

scholarly journals The scope of competition law in the digital economy

Pravovedenie ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 63 (4) ◽  
pp. 522-572
Author(s):  
Ioannis Lianos ◽  
◽  
Zingales Nicolo ◽  
Andrew McLean ◽  
Azza Raslan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Personal Data ◽  
Competition Law ◽  
Digital Economy ◽  
Competition Authority ◽  
Digital Platforms ◽  
Brics Countries ◽  
Explicit Consent ◽  
Data Portability ◽  
The Right ◽  
Interim Measures

The article reveals new problems arising in the digital economy and the need for antimonopoly regulation. It also analyzes the legal remedies and procedures for competition law in the context of digitalization. Redesigning competition law procedures for the digital economy can take two forms: 1) ensure the rate of competition law enforcement so as to avoid acting in situations when market tipping has already occurred and it is almost impossible to reverse the anticompetitive outcome; 2) develop remedial action that takes into account the scale of anticompetitive behavior, which might better reflect the complexity of digital markets. Competition authorities should consider utilizing interim measures and commitment decisions in the digital economy, both instruments playing a complementary role. Interim measures can be used within a revised framework with lower thresholds, but this should only be reserved for complicated and lengthy investigations where there is risk of irreversible harm to competition. These measures should be applied to the most harmful violations, such as cartels and abuse of dominance. Commitment decisions can be utilized to address less serious violations where it is also beneficial to the competition authority to reach a swift resolution. The article analyzes the division of companies as a way to eliminate violations. Division can take different forms and need not be structural. A certain ‘light-touch’ separation may be achieved by policies mandating that digital platforms not use personal data that has been harvested by the members of their ecosystems unless they have the explicit consent of their users. The article also addresses issues such as data portability and cross-platform compatibility. The authors have proved that the BRICS countries need to supplement their national legislation on the protection of personal data in terms of norms on their portability. Although it is not mainly designed as a tool to combat monopolies and market power, data portability will have a significant impact on competition in digital markets. Multisided digital platforms are characterized by a high network and lock-in effects. In a winner takes all, or most, where undertakings compete for the market rather than in the market, the right to data portability may provide some relief from the power that large digital platforms hold.

Kartellrechtliche Zulässigkeit von Superligen im Fußball

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dennis Cukurov
Keyword(s):  
Conflict Of Interest ◽  
Competition Law ◽  
Competitive Balance ◽  
Prevention Measures ◽  
Before And After ◽  
European Football ◽  
The Creation ◽  
Super League

The creation of a European football super league is becoming more and more likely. Some top clubs want to introduce such a league without involving the UEFA. The UEFA wants to prevent this in order to keep its tournaments free of competition. This conflict of interest is an example of the more general tension between competition law and sport. The author examines not only UEFA’s prevention measures, but also possible cooperation between the clubs. Among other things, he addresses two topics that have been insufficiently discussed so far, the concept of legitimate objective within the meaning of the so-called Meca-Medina test and the competitive balance before and after the creation of a super league, and argues for the implementation of a “more Europe” approach in European football.

Challenges and Changes

2020 ◽  
pp. 152-172
Author(s):  
David J. Gerber
Keyword(s):  
Competition Law ◽  
Digital Economy ◽  
The Other ◽  
Global Competition ◽  
Key Factors ◽  
Global System ◽  
Law System ◽  
Legal Professionals ◽  
System P

The chapter focuses on two profound and lasting changes in competition. One is the deepening and widening of globalization, which alters the dimensions of markets; the other is the digital economy, which creates new forms of competition. Together, they challenge both domestic regimes and the global system. The chapter describes how these two changes combine to challenge competition authorities, courts, and legal professionals. It notes how individual regimes are responding to these changes and identifies key factors that shape their responses. It then shows how these challenges are altering many aspects of the relationships among competition law regimes—that is, the global competition law system.

The Evolution of Corporate Form

2019 ◽  
pp. 686-710 ◽  
Author(s):  
Simon Deakin
Keyword(s):  
Corporate Governance ◽  
Social Enterprise ◽  
Digital Economy ◽  
Conceptual Foundation ◽  
Corporate Form ◽  
Recent Developments ◽  
Legal Structures ◽  
The Commons ◽  
The Creation ◽  
Corporate Personality

This chapter focuses on the evolution of the concept of corporate personality in English law. Recent developments in experiments with legal organizational forms are injecting diversity into the relative monoculture of the corporate form. Two threads are of particular interest in this chapter. The first concerns the creation of hybrid legal structures for “social enterprise.” The second stems from a revival of interest in cooperative structures, particularly in tandem with the digital economy. The chapter places these two threads in dialogue with Simon Deakin’s recent stimulating argument that the commons provides the most convincing conceptual foundation for understanding corporate governance.

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