COPYRIGHT IN THE DIGITAL ERA: MAIN TRENDS AND CHANGES
Authors: Tarasenko Leonid 
Published: July 2023

The article considers the legal analysis of copyright development trends in the digital era. The challenges facing copyright in today's conditions are analyzed. It is proven that the legal regulation of relations regarding the use of intellectual property objects in the digital environment is imperfect, since the legislation in this area objectively does not keep up with the rapid development of technologies. It is substantiated that the improvement of the legal regulation of copyright relations takes place taking into account the trends in the development of intellectual property law. The trends in copyright development determined by digital technologies, which will form the appropriate legal regulation, are identified, which include: the advantage of the digital form of existence of copyright objects; the existence of exclusively digital copyright objects (in particular, a computer program), as well as objects that almost always exist in a digital form (databases, audiovisual works, photographs, etc.), the creation of most copyright objects in digital form with the subsequent possibility of transfer to a paper or other form of expression; the possibility of a quick digitization of copyright objects, etc. It is established that the digital environment causes the creation of new copyright objects, the legal regime of which is not fully defined (video game, multimedia). It is proven that digital objects of copyright (such as computer programs, databases, etc.) need a certain legal regime, which can be achieved by adopting appropriate legislative regulation. It is highlighted that the existence of copyright objects in digital form changes the possibilities of the author and other persons regarding the use of such objects, namely regarding storage, reproduction and modification. It is concluded that almost all copyright objects can be digitized; digitization is a form of use of the work, and must be carried out with the consent of the subject of copyright, who owns property copyright, except for cases of free use of the work, which are provided by law. It is established that due to the possible uncontrolled distribution of digital (and digitized) copyright objects in the digital environment, a «take down notice» procedure was developed. It is substantiated that the tendency of copyright development is to increase the weight of the principle of observing the balance of the interests of authors and the public (private and public interests), in particular, the right holder should not create unjustified obstacles to the use of copyright objects contained in digital form. It is emphasized that another trend in the development of copyright is the need to strengthen international cooperation regarding the adoption of interstate, international acts that will determine the specifics of legal protection of copyright objects outside the country in which these objects were created. It is proven that the fight against piracy in the digital environment takes on new forms of countermeasures, while the main place is given to technical means of protection and the ability to track and detect violators. It is justified that copyright in its development should take into account the significant spread of so-called «free public licenses», which are widely used in the Internet environment (Creative Commons, general public license and others). A significant increase in the role of artificial intelligence (artificial intelligence) as a creator of copyright objects, in relation to which its legal personality arises, was noted.