Given the capabilities and characteristics of digital network technologies, e-commerce has had a tremendous impact on the system of copyright and related rights, and the scope of copyright and related
DESIDOC J. Lib. Inf. Technol., 2012, 32(3)
rights in turn is affecting how e-commerce evolves. It is essential that legal rules are set and applied appropriately, to ensure that digital technology does not undermine the basic tenets of copyright and related rights. The digital environment is facilitating copyright licensing by different means, including by helping to rapidly locate and identify licensors and licensees, providing virtual platforms for exchange and automating contracts, payments, and the delivery of goods and services. In this regard, digital technology is making great impact on the territorial and temporal framework for copyright licensing. Moreover, a number of new licensing practices are emerging in the new technological environment.