Protection of Digital Content and DRM Technologies in German Copyright

Abstract

Today, due to the challenges brought forth by digital and networked information technologies, we see a “crisis” of the finely tuned copyright system as we know it. Internationally, we are in the midst of adjusting the copyright system to its future tasks. Within the next weeks the EU-Directive on Copyright in the Information Society will be implemented into the German Copyright Law. However, still many issues remain unresolved. The proper scope of the exception clauses as laid down in §§45 et seqs. of the German Copyright Act and, in particular, the private use exception of §53, is still subject to discussion. This question interrelates with the upcoming implementation of technological protection measures (TPM) and digital rights management systems (DRM). For now, the legislature has granted strong legal protection for TPM that might eventually undermine the underlying values of the statutory exception clauses. A look back to the initial rationals of our copyright system might help to find a proper balance of interests for the future.