This study examines the structural relationship between copyright law and predatory publishing within contemporary digital academic ecosystems. As scientific dissemination increasingly depends on open-access infrastructures, platform-mediated visibility, and transnational publication networks, predatory journals have evolved into sophisticated systems of intellectual exploitation. The research analyzes how deceptive publishing entities manipulate copyright transfer agreements, misuse Creative Commons licensing models, and exploit jurisdictional fragmentation to retain control over academic works while avoiding effective legal accountability. Using a comparative and interdisciplinary framework integrating international copyright law, digital governance theory, and academic integrity studies, the paper identifies structural deficiencies in current intellectual property enforcement systems when confronting predatory publishing operations. The findings support the hypothesis that predatory publishing is not merely an ethical deviation but a transnational mechanism of copyright exploitation facilitated by algorithmic dissemination systems, contractual asymmetries, and fragmented regulatory enforcement.
Sergio Pommier Gallo (Thu,) studied this question.