News aggregators and copyright in the European Union and the United States in the digital age: Evolution, comparisons, and implications

摘要

News aggregators have triggered copyright-related disputes between tech companies and news publishers. In the EU and the U.S., copyright systems have developed distinct characteristics. Because American tech companies stand to be hugely affected by the EU’s new copyright rules, some observers point out that the copyright war in Europe is fundamentally a collision between European and American copyright law systems. To respond to this observation, this study examines and compares European and U.S. perspectives on copyright and uses copyright as a lens to explore how digital platforms that aim at global influences provide the opportunity for different legal systems and legal traditions to converse and conflict. Through the comparison, this study argues that fundamental issues such as the nature of news are not effectively addressed in either system. While the EU and the U.S. present different regulatory trends in the case of copyright, a two-way shaping is at play.