Abstract

The optimum goal of copyright is to maximize the production of creative works and innovations by balancing the benefits of the copyright owners and public users. This balance requires securing the rights of copyright owners to induce authors to produce their creations, while at the same time providing public users with regulated freedom to use copyrighted work to produce new creations and innovations. In this context, it is necessary to explore the problems of the copyright system and address them in the optimum way to achieve the goals of copyright. This paper analyzes the problems of the United States copyright system that obstruct the process of creation and innovation. These problems directly threaten the users who attempt to use copyrighted work to produce new innovations and impact their choice to proceed with their creations. It also analyzes the proposed reforms addressing such problems. These reforms focus on either eliminating the existing ambiguity of some of the copyright terms, or developing the copyright infringement structure and its available remedies. This paper argues that eliminating the ambiguity of copyright terms will not lead to effective results in achieving the goals of copyright. This is because it will be impossible to provide measures and interpretation that copes with the rapid progress of the technological and digital innovations. In addition, it is argued that this ambiguity is intended by the legislator to overcome the gap between the system and the rapid technological development, by granting the judges discretionary power to decide on copyright disputes on ad hoc basis. This paper concludes that it is most effective to introduce reform to the infringement and remedial structure that is capable of limiting the threats that users may be expose to. Moreover, it argues that developing countries, including Egypt, can benefit from the proposed analysis, of the United Stated system, in developing their copyright legislations. It proposes a reform tailored to conform with the Egyptian system, which considers the said problems and motivates production of more creative works.

School

School of Global Affairs and Public Policy

Department

Law Department

Degree Name

LLM in International and Comparative Law

Graduation Date

Spring 6-15-2021

Submission Date

5-25-2021

First Advisor

Hani Sayed

Committee Member 1

Hani Sayed

Committee Member 2

Naglaa Rizk

Committee Member 3

Dalia Hussein

Extent

80 p.

Document Type

Master's Thesis

Institutional Review Board (IRB) Approval

Not necessary for this item

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