Delineating and Promoting an Online 'Legal Offer': A Proper Task for Copyright Legislation?

Abstract

Legislations tackling the issue of illegal downloading of copyrighted content, notably those enabling so-called “graduated response” mechanisms, often present and promote the idea of “legal offers”, designed to encourage consumers to acquire cultural content legally, as the positive counterpart to their sanctioning provisions. The paper argues that such legal rationales are actually underpinned by ambiguous concepts, bearing underestimated consequences on both practical and theoretical levels. The legislative promotion for the development of so-called “legal” services instills uncertainty in the online market place, thereby affecting online business practices but also the core tenets of copyright law.

Keywords: copyright, enforcement, regulation, file-sharing, graduated response, HADOPI, digital market, legal offer