Protecting Digital Users Through the Temporary Copy Exception: A Defence Available to Both Digital U

This article seeks to explore the Temporary Copy exception in copyright law. It will be argued that the conditions of Article 5(1) of the Information Society Directive (ISD) would be difficult for digital users to prove whether a temporary copy is legitimate, especially for acts of caching and streaming, with the exception of browsing. This essay will examine the interpretation of the key cases of the CJEU which explains the three key conditions: (a) transient or incidental (b) integral and essential part of the technological process (c) independent economic significance. It will however be argued that the temporary copy exception has not, and should not be phased out as the interpretation of the three-step test in Article 5(5) of the ISD ultimately maintains the balance of rights between copyright holders and digital users.

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