CHALLENGES TO COPYRIGHT ON THE INTERNET – COLLECTIVE MANAGEMENT OF COPYRIGHT AND BITTORRENT PLATFORMS

Abstract

The development of information and communication technologies and the Internet has fundamentally changed the traditional concept of copyright and related rights, causing a crisis in its functioning. Forms of copyright inefficiency on the Internet are reflected in the fact that there is a factual impossibility for the author to effectively exercise and protect their copyright or related rights. The search for potential solutions is demanding and complex, ranging from the following efforts: to maintain the traditional concept of copyright and related rights, to implement a reform of the traditional system, to change it from the ground up, to the approach that copyright has no practical reach in the digital environment. BitTorrent platforms have recently become one of the most recognizable forms of copyright infringement in the Internet environment. Although we have witnessed many court proceedings aimed at preventing the activities of BitTorrent platforms on which unauthorized direct sharing of copyrighted content takes place, the expected results have not yet been achieved. In search of a potential solution, the research directed us towards collective management organizations, specialized entities that have the capacity to overcome certain challenges in the context of copyright inefficiency, particularly in relation to the unauthorized distribution of copyrighted content via BitTorrent platforms. The basic aim of this scientific research is to offer concrete proposals which, in the future, if implemented, could potentially represent a solution to part of the problem of the most common and widespread form of copyright inefficiency on the Internet.