Rami Olwan

The rise of digital networked technologies has meant that copyright is now central to most everything we do from recreation to research. Every time we use digital technology – which needs to reproduce and communicate to operate - we automate the possibility of copyright infringement.

The purpose of this presentation is to consider how copyright law in its current form fits the challenges of the digital age and in particular how it might be improved to promote the possibilities for innovation especially in developing countries.  We take the Federal Law No. (7) of 2002 (UAE) Pertaining to Copyrights and Neighbouring Rights as our case study.

In every country copyright law and not just patent law should be seen as a key ingredient of the innovation system. It is fundamental to the generation and transfer of knowledge.

In further developing its copyright law and practice UAE needs to be mindful of the importance of “information flow” in the modern economy. It needs to be alert to the fact that overly restrictive copyright law will slow down development and innovation whereas copyright law that can harness the power of the technology will provide a competitive advantage.