On the Protection of Consumers' Rights and Interests in the Perspective of Copyright Law

In the perspective of copyright law, the subjects of interest conflicts are the authors, disseminators, and users of works. The main task of copyright law is to adjust the interest conflicts among these three parties. However, once a work enters the market, it becomes a product, and the disseminators of the work (including publishers, audio and video producers, radio and television stations, and online platforms) often become operators of the product (work), while the users of the work become consumers. The current law overly emphasizes the protection of the rights and interests of the authors and disseminators of works, while neglecting the protection of the rights and interests of the consumers, who are the users of works. Therefore, measures such as innovatively defining copyright, clarifying the status of copyright consumers and relevant rights protection measures in copyright law, imposing necessary restrictions on technical protection measures that can be adopted by copyright owners, and strengthening the regulation of work disseminators should be taken to reconstruct copyright law, in order to strengthen the protection of the rights and interests of copyright consumers and achieve a balance of interests among the authors, disseminators, and users of works.