Temporary reproduction and private digital copy

Abstract

This article aims to study the act of reproduction in the digital environment, identifying its regulatory framework, especially with regard to acts of temporary reproduction. The text begins with the characterisation of the act of reproduction on a digital medium and with the examination of the applicable regulatory framework, formed by the Berne Convention, TRIPS and Directive 2001/29/EC on the harmonisation of certain aspects of copyright and related rights in the information society. It asks whether the temporary copy made in the computer's RAM, technically required for mere access to the work, falls within the notion of reproduction and confers an exclusive right on the author. It analyses Article 5(1) of Directive 2001/29/EC and the divergence as to whether acts of temporary reproduction are excluded from the notion of reproduction or constitute an exception or limitation to the reproduction right, and it examines the effects of that treatment on French, Spanish and Brazilian copyright law, with reference to Article 30(1) of Law No. 9,610/98. It maintains that acts of temporary reproduction in the digital environment, carried out for private copying, are not incorporated into the author's exclusive right.