The Effect of the Doctrine of Copyright Exhaustion on Digital Copies of a Work

The article is devoted to the analysis of the possibility of applying the doctrine of exhaustion of the exclusive right to distribute a digital copy of a work. The essence of the principle of exhaustion of rights is considered, which limits the monopoly of the copyright holder and ensures a balance of interests of copyright holders and users. The European judicial practice on the problem of applying this principle to digital content, including software, e-books and video games, is analyzed. The article concludes that the development of digital technologies poses new challenges to the doctrine of exhaustion of rights, requiring a review of its application in the context of the dissemination of intangible content. It is proposed to develop a balanced approach to solving this problem, taking into account the interests of all stakeholders, including copyright holders, users and secondary market participants.