In this digital era, our lives would be incomplete if we did not use multimedia technology on
our computers, tablets, or smartphones. With the expanding importance of electronic and
digital media, everything supplied on a digital platform is freely accessible, which encourages
copyright infringement. Because of the importance of electronic and digital media, copyright
holders must be protected by rules. The basic kind of intellectual property law, known as
copyright, safeguards the rights of writers and other creators of creative works. The Copyright
Amendment Act of 2012 addressed copyright concerns in electronic and digital media,
safeguarding a wide range of multimedia items such as videos, photographs, websites, memes,
operating systems, and other digital media. The Copyright Act of 1957 does not directly
address copyrighted work in digital works; however, this has changed as technology has
become more prevalent in daily life.
Digital technology is the most recent improvement in the field on a global scale. Digital media
has had a tremendous influence on the development, distribution, and protection of copyright
works. Because of digitization, modifying, duplicating, and distributing protected material has
become more easier. The Internet has ushered in a new age, and the digital Age, a symbol of
the twenty-first century, has witnessed this transformation. In many ways, this juncture in
copyright’s long and turbulent history constitutes a watershed moment. It is simple to modify,
change, mix, and combine digital stuff. Digital technology endangers distribution networks by
making perfect copies of protected works cheap, resulting in a surge in illegal use of these
works. As a result, the Internet has muddied the Berne Convention’s beautifully organised,
dogmatically precise, and righteous vision of copy-related and non-copy-related rights in
several respects. Digital interactive broadcasting is a hybrid approach of making information
available to a big audience and allowing them to access it anytime they want.
Digitization has been one of the most significant technical advancements in recent years. It is
a reference to the process of converting literary works into computer-readable forms.
Digitization is the process of storing and transmitting works in a binary (a series of ones and
zeros) format. There are several digitization procedures, but they all yield the same result: a
binary code that can be played back to recreate the original analogue experience. All physical
works, no matter how complex, may be digitally recorded. Because of digitalization, all forms
of topic knowledge may now be made standardised available to customers.
Digitalization, in addition to changing the format of works, also changed their consumption
and dissemination. Work was made and delivered in the analogue age in the form of books or
paintings. Human senses may be able to notice these works. Copyright law safeguarded
copyright works that were integrated into tangible things. The physical expression of the
notion, rather than the underlying principles, was explored. Reduction to material form became
a need for copyright protection in the analogue era. In contrast, digital creations have been
“dematerialized” into a digital or electronic counterpart. They are not present in traditional
forms of material. Despite the fact that digital works can only be read or comprehended by
computers, they are easy to convert into signals that the human eye, ear, and mind can
understand. Any analogue work that already exists can be turned into a digital data object. It is
also extremely common to create new works in digital format because it is quick and
uncomplicated. The transition from analogue to digital significantly affected both the creation
and usage of art. The ease with which digital technology may be replicated may be its most
significant result. Because analogue copies lose consistency with each generation of copying,
multigeneration copying is physically restricted. This inhibits extensive illegal copying. Digital
copies, on the other hand, are perfect since they must be replicated bit-for-bit. This means that
not only are all digital copies perfect in and of themselves, but that infinitely perfect copies
may be made from flawed copies.
Only digital editing techniques, which allow for the substitution of persons in movies and the
addition of colour to black-and-white films, can do this. Multimedia works are a new type of
work that arose as a result of the ease with which digital works may be edited and integrated.
The delivery of works has altered as a result of new media. Digital works, unlike analogue
works, may be distributed by digital transmission rather than microwave transmissions, land,
air, or sea transportation. Any type of work may be made available in digital form on a globally
accessible electronic network or collection of electronic networks thanks to digital
transmission.
In the past, copyright was frequently concerned with public involvement or dissemination. For
the transfer of works, only one-to-one contact, such as over the phone, or one-to-many
communication, such as email, were authorised (like broadcasting). The transfer of works to
persons is described as digital transmission. A copyrighted work can now be sent digitally one-
to-one, many-to-many, or all-to-all. Works may be given to individuals, a small group of
persons, or the whole public. Because digital transmission is interactive, it is no longer
restricted to one-way communication. No broadcaster provides works to the public at its own
discretion. Instead, works are saved on a “server” and may be accessed or utilised by the user
at any time. The service provider may not only offer access to but also see the works. A person
is called an active participant when they access, use, or copy a work. By acting as a second
publisher, the reader may mistakenly publish the content again. True communication became
possible because to digital transmission. Digitalization has various advantages. Authors profit
from digitization in that their works are distributed more widely and effectively through digital
transmission, in addition to new possibilities for their development. There are opportunities for
technological progress and innovation in the machine, television, cable, satellite, and
telecommunications industries. Furthermore, digital distribution allows practically everyone in
the public to access works, documents, and services in ways that are significantly superior to
previous analogue media. Despite these various benefits, digitization has emerged as a two-
edged sword, spawning both fresh and exciting means of creating and consuming copyright
works, as well as novel techniques of violating authors’ rights.
Authors’ compliance, as well as their economic and moral rights, are jeopardised by
digitization. Furthermore, it has the potential to disturb the current balance of author and
consumer rights. Since the emergence of the Internet and the surge in online traffic, the
possibility of copyright infringement has grown dramatically. The availability of free and easy
web access, as well as the ability to download, has given rise to new worries about copyright
infringement. Traditional conceptions of individual rights and security are increasingly being
tested by the capacity to copy material from one website and edit it or just repeat it on another.
As a result, a regulation or method was required to allow writers to update and preserve their
works in digital format. Inadequate author rights protection may jeopardise the sustainability
of online global knowledge networks.
References:
- Mittal, R. (2006). From Printing Press to the Internet: The Stride of Copyright along
with Technology, Intellectual Property and Technology Law Journal, 1, 21-46. - Burgess, J. (1993). Internet Creates a Computer Culture of Remote Intimacy, The
Washington Post, A1, A8. - Ficsor, M. (2002). The Law of Copyright and the Internet. London, Oxford University
Press - Dixon, Allen N. & Self, Laurie C.,“Copyright Protection for Information
Superhighway”, European Intellectual Property Review,pp. 465-493, 1994
