Page 26 - A Study on the Role of UGC Platforms in Copyright Law：An Intermediary-oriented Approach

A Study on the Role of UGC Platforms in Copyright Law: Chapter 1 Introduction
An Intermediary-oriented Approach

producers of UGCs, should provide UGC creators with sufficient notice of the Terms
of Use/Service (ToU/ToS). The ToU/ToS should only require UGC creators to grant a
copyright licence to the platform when necessary. Fair remuneration and dispute resolution
mechanisms should also be offered to UGC creators.
1.5 Methodology

This thesis adopted the following methods: doctrinal study, interdisciplinary study and
empirical study.

15.1 Doctrinal study

Briefly speaking, doctrinal legal study is ‘research in law’ rather than ‘research about
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law’. Focusing on ‘what is the law’ in particular context, doctrinal research concerns with
legal principle generated by the courts and the legislature, which is also known as ‘black-
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letter law’. This dissertation relies on doctrinal study to examine the legal framework of
the creation and exploitation of UGCs, including (i) how do existing copyright exceptions
cope with the barrier brought by the exclusive copyright regime, especially the access
control right, in the creation of user-derived-content, (ii) how does safe harbor rule apply to
UGC platforms, (iii) how has copyright law dealt with large scale of unauthorized use, (iv)
what are the legal principles for adhesion contract, (v) what are the legal rules for human
use of UGCs and web scraping of UGC databases. The doctrinal study of this thesis is
based on legislations, treaties, court decisions, and authoritative materials from a range of
jurisdictions, including the US, EU, China, Australia and Canada.

1.5.2 Interdisciplinary study

The wave of UGCs is the direct result of technical and social development. Therefore,
historical research, media study and economic analysis of law were relied on to form a more
comprehensive and multi-layered understanding of UGCs and UGC platforms. This was
necessary to carve out a copyright regime tailored to UGCs.
New phenomena can only be understood through the lens of the past, which is the
reason for historical research. Historical study of the interaction between technology and
copyright law, between the new and the old, were investigated to provide a clear picture of
the intermediary-oriented approach to copyright.
Media study was also an indispensable part of this research. Compared with other
creative activity throughout history, UGC creation is distinct in using the Internet to connect
individual remix works to a boundless network, with a social impact on an unprecedented

80 Amrit Kharel, ‘Doctrinal Legal Research’ (February 26, 2018). Available at SSRN: <https://ssrn.com/abstract=3130525> or
<http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3130525>.
81 Paul Chynoweth, ‘Chapter 3 - Legal Research’, in Les Ruddock and Andrew Knight (eds.), Advanced Research Methods in
the Built Environment (Wiley-Blackwell, Oxford, United Kingdom) 29-30.

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