Yahong Li on The Age of Remix and Copyright Law Reform (SSRN)

"The Age of Remix and Copyright Law Reform"

Yahong Li
Law, Innovation and Technology, 12.1, Forthcoming
University of Hong Kong Faculty of Law Research Paper No. 2019/006

Abstract: The remix has emerged as a dominant force of creation in the digital and Internet age. The solutions under the current copyright law such as fair use as well as voluntary, compulsory and public licensing have failed to adequately protect remix works and remixers, and as a result, hampered the creativity of remix artists. New approaches are needed to cope with the challenges. This article proposes to add remix as a protectable subject matter; create a right to remix and grant it to remixers; obligate remixers to attribute source works to copyright holders and remunerate them for remixing; require the same remix rights and obligations to be passed on to future remixers; and impose a statutory levy on social media for using remixes. It is argued that the proposed approach can better protect remix creation and help achieve an optimal balance of interests between copyright holders, social media and users.