PhD Dissertation –  PRC Copyright Reform

PhD Dissertation – PRC Copyright Reform

PhD Dissertation: 

China’s Copyright Reform for the Digitized World: 
Lessons and Prospects

中國的數字版權法改革:經驗與展望 

 DONG HAO

KEYWORDS 
Copyright, Legal Reform, Legal Transplantation, Right of Communication through Information Networks, ISP Liability, Intangible Medium, Public Domain

ABSTRACT
This thesis tries to answer the following basic questions: can we use moral reasons to justify specific suggestions or policy initiatives?  Can we summarize deep-seated reasons underlying the surface of the laws? Why did the lawmakers make mistakes?  What lessons we should learn from the first round of the Chinese copyright law reform?  Apart from the uncertain notion of “balance of interests”, can we identify any other more objective approaches to assess success or otherwise of the legal reform? 
 
Based on the review of the nature and features of Chinese copyright laws, this thesis reviews the first round of copyright reform for the digital age and summarizes lessons to be learned therefrom. The thesis also proposes further legal reform incorporating the theory of “intangible medium”, and suggests use of the theory of de facto public domain as a standard to assess proposals of legal reform, i.e. a good and balanced law for copyright protection in the digitized age should be pushing the de jure public domain closer to the de facto public domain…
 
 
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