A new interface between copyright law and technology: how user-generated content will shape the future of online distribution

The article aims to depict the evolution and the state of online distribution and assess to what extent online distribution and its developments altered the relationship between copyright law and technology as we traditionally know it. The dialectic relationship between copyright law and technology has been shaped by two relevant moments. The first dates back to when digital technology encountered the Internet. The second is more recent and occurred when the Internet morphed into the World Wide Web 2.0. The article shows that both moments had, and still have, relevant effects on online distribution and, in turn, on the relationship between copyright law and technology. Thus the article is structured as follows. Part II describes the interaction between technology and copyright law as it was before the encounter between digital technology and the Internet. Part III and IV analyze the effects of the encounter between digital technology and the Internet at legislative, technological, and judicial level. Part V moves on and explores the current scenario of online distribution, ranging from proprietary distribution and open distribution to the spread of advertising-based distribution models for the dissemination of both professional and amateur content. Part VI concludes by illustrating how the relationship between technology and copyright law has been altered and introduces foresights.