Transnational Copyright: Misalignments between Regulation, Business Models and User Practice

24 Pages Posted: 24 Jul 2012

See all articles by Leonhard Dobusch

Leonhard Dobusch

Department of Organization and Learning

Sigrid Quack

Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies

Date Written: July 24, 2012

Abstract

In this paper we analyse discursive struggles over what is referred to as legal and illegal user practices in the internet as an outcome of regulatory uncertainty. The latter, in turn, is examined in the context of a multi-layered transnational copyright regime characterised by three features: the absence of an universally recognized single authority in charge of law-making, fragmented and partially contradicting forms of regulation of global, national and sectoral scope, and considerable indeterminacy of rule interpretation and application arising from the variety and distinctiveness of local usage contexts. We argue that notions of legality and illegality are used strategically by different actors to resolve perceived misalignments between regulation, business models and user practices. The results indicate that the meaning of legality and illegality, while often presented as well-defined distinction, in the case of internet user practices is often far from clear-cut and generally accepted. In fact, copyright industry, intermediaries, users and regulators are involved in what Black (2002) refers to as “regulatory conversations”. Analysing these regulatory conversations offers a revealing entry point to study how under conditions of transnational regime complexity and diffusion of new technology solutions to regulatory uncertainty are negotiated in a multiplicity of social contexts.

Keywords: International regime complexity, copyright regulation, regulatory uncertainty, internet-based business models, internet user practices

JEL Classification: M13, K42, F55, O33, O34

Suggested Citation

Dobusch, Leonhard and Quack, Sigrid, Transnational Copyright: Misalignments between Regulation, Business Models and User Practice (July 24, 2012). Osgoode CLPE Research Paper No. 13/2012, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2116334 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2116334

Leonhard Dobusch (Contact Author)

Department of Organization and Learning ( email )

Universitätsstraße 15
Innsbruck, Innsbruck 6020
Austria

HOME PAGE: http://https://www.uibk.ac.at/iol/index.html.en

Sigrid Quack

Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies ( email )

Paulstr. 3
50676 Cologne, DE
Germany
+49 221 2767-152 (Phone)
+49 221 2767-555 (Fax)

HOME PAGE: http://www.mpifg.de/people/sq/index_de.asp

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