The Principle of Technological Neutrality in European Copyright Law: Myth or Reality?

摘要

Technological neutrality is the golden key for the adaptation of law to technological changes. Nonetheless, in the field of copyright law the application of this principle appears to be more of a myth than a reality. Despite the expression of technological neutrality in fundamental concepts of copyright law, in the core of economic rights and in specific domains such as software interoperability, this principle is subject to certain limits which undermine the independence of copyright from technological change. Moreover, in spite of growing dematerialisation, there appears to be a strong technological dependence of a work of mind on its medium of communication and, in this respect, technological neutrality might be described as more of a chimera than a prevailing rule.