Evolution of the Digital Copyright Industry: Are We Ready to Face Dynamic Changes?

Abstract

New digital technology enables people to access multiple forms of creative work regardless of the geographical location of origin. It expands the areas of human creativity from mere literary, scientific and artistic works; up to the multitude of computer based creations including computer software, mobile applications and three dimensional creations etc. Through the lens of copyright law, this approach sets novel form of avenues for the users to participate in the consumption, distribution and creation of content in a way which is revolutionary for both the culture and the industry. However, from the authors and the point of view of the copyright owner, this development urges a set of new protections to prevent their rights from being violate (infringed). The main research problem of this paper is explaining whether the existing Sri Lankan copyright law is adequate to protect the rights of the copyright holder and copyright user from the evolving challenges in digital world or should a new piece of legislation be enacted to clearly define their rights in order to prevent digital copyright infringements? The research was conducted following qualitative research method, thus the number of books, journal articles and internet articles were used to gather secondary data on this area. This research presents an analysis about the existing Sri Lankan law relating to copyright and related rights by examining its adequacy to meet the challenges evolving in the digital world and recommends to adopt new piece of legislation to protect the rights of the whole society to enjoy the benefits derived from day today creations including digitized works, while mitigating unlawful behavior which hinder effective enjoyment of the fruits acquired by the copyright holders through their legitimate.