New technologies and mediums have created a number of novel issues related to copyright law. New digital and multimedia technologies such as CDs and DVDs have greatly expanded the scope of intellectual property law.
Encryption and decryption technologies, advanced digital copying and editing technologies, reverse engineering, and the Internet, have facilitated the copying, modification, and distribution of copyrighted digital and non-digital works. Individuals and businesses are now able produce perfect digital reproductions of copyrighted works and distribute them on a massive scale. Additionally, such technologies have enabled businesses and individuals to create derivative works and edit or alter copyrighted works to suit their own tastes – examples include colorization and alteration or deletion of objectionable content.
Such developments have created a storm debate and widespread litigation, involving issues of copyright infringement, contributory infringement, and fair use. In addition to infringement concerns, new mediums and multimedia technologies have created a host of other copyright issues involving licensing, authorship, work for hire, and compilation copyright issues. New digital mediums such as the Internet and new multimedia formats such as DVDs may contain a number of separately copyrightable materials such as a video, music, sound, animation, graphics, photographs, text, interactive features, computer programs, and games, creating complex copyright, ownership, and licensing issues and disputes. Additionally, disputes may arise when older copyrighted and/or licensed material is merged into new mediums - such as when a motion picture film is remastered and digitized and transferred to a DVD.
