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

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Abstract

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.

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About the authors

Ekaterina A. Sviridova

Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation

Author for correspondence.
Email: ESviridova@fa.ru
ORCID iD: 0000-0002-7791-0550
SPIN-code: 9514-6466

Cand. Sci. (Law), Associate Professor, associate professor, Department of Legal Regulation of Economic Activity, Faculty of Law

Russian Federation, Moscow

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