Les droits économiques dans l'environnement numérique : portrait de notions en mutation

L'accès généralisé à Internet a remis en question le droit d'auteur. Au milieu des années 90, il s'en trouvait plusieurs pour annoncer la mort de cette institution vieille de quelques siècles. Force est aujourd'hui de constater que le droit d'auteur est toujours bien vivant bien qu'il ait changé. Les droits économiques, qui ont rapidement été appliqués dans l'environnement numérique, témoignent de ces changements. L'analyse de la transmission numérique des fichiers audio expose les mutations qui affectent deux droits économiques en particulier: le droit de reproduction et le droit de communication au public par télécommunication. Ces mutations résultent tantôt de l'intervention du législateur, tantôt de la façon dont on choisit d'appliquer ces droits dans ce nouvel environnement. Elles ont souvent pour effet d'étendre la portée traditionnelle de ces droits économiques. Cela se fait parfois au détriment des rationalités qui en justifient l'existence. De plus, la nouvelle interaction entre ces droits mutés entraîne des effets sur les différents acteurs du droit d'auteur qui sont parfois discutables. Le droit d'auteur a toujours sa raison d'être. Reste à savoir si la forme actuelle des droits économiques est toujours le meilleur véhicule pour atteindre les objectifs sous-jacents. À l'heure où le législateur envisage une simplification du droit d'auteur, une réflexion s'impose au sujet de la forme des droits économiques. Il est grand temps, du moins dans l'environnement numérique, d'adopter une approche qui se fonde plus sur les effets des actes posés que sur leur nature. L'examen des mutations qui affectent les droits économiques dans cet environnement fait d'ailleurs prendre conscience des limites de notre façon positiviste d'envisager ces droits.

General Internet access has shaken Copyright. In the mid-nineties, many announced the death of this institution several centuries old. We have to admit that Copyright is still quite alive though it has changed. The economic rights, which were quickly applied in the digital environment, are a testimony of these changes. The analysis of audio file digital transmission exposes mutations which affect two specifie economic rights: the reproduction right and the right of communication to the public by telecommunication. These changes result from the legislator's intervention or from how the economic rights are applied in this new environment. The traditional reach of these rights is often extended by those changes. As a result, the rationalities that justify these rights are sometimes ignored. Moreover, the new interaction between these changed rights sometimes has debatable effects on the various copyright actors. Copyright retains its raison d'être. Still, the question arises whether the current form of the economic rights remains the best vehicle to achieve the goals implied by these rights. As the legislator now considers a simplification of Copyright, reviewing the form of the economic rights is essential. It is time, at least in the digital environment, to adopt an approach based on the effects of the acts, rather than on their nature. The analysis of the changes, which affect the economic rights in a digital environment, exposes the limits of our positivist way of considering these rights. Keywords Internet, copyright, economic rights, reproduction, communication to the public by telecommunication, mutation, effect.

General Internet access has shaken Copyright. In the mid-nineties, many announced the death of this institution several centuries old. We have to admit that Copyright is still quite alive though it has changed. The economic rights, which were quickly applied in the digital environment, are a testimony of these changes. The analysis of audio file digital transmission exposes mutations which affect two specifie economic rights: the reproduction right and the right of communication to the public by telecommunication. These changes result from the legislator's intervention or from how the economic rights are applied in this new environment. The traditional reach of these rights is often extended by those changes. As a result, the rationalities that justify these rights are sometimes ignored. Moreover, the new interaction between these changed rights sometimes has debatable effects on the various copyright actors. Copyright retains its raison d'être. Still, the question arises whether the current form of the economic rights remains the best vehicle to achieve the goals implied by these rights. As the legislator now considers a simplification of Copyright, reviewing the form of the economic rights is essential. It is time, at least in the digital environment, to adopt an approach based on the effects of the acts, rather than on their nature. The analysis of the changes, which affect the economic rights in a digital environment, exposes the limits of our positivist way of considering these rights. Keywords Internet, copyright, economic rights, reproduction, communication to the public by telecommunication, mutation, effect.