Internet of Things and the Problems of Interoperability : An EU Copyright Law Perspective
Atte Sorvettula · Työväentutkimus Vuosikirja · 2018
The aim of this thesis is to study the problems of interoperability in the IoT regime that are created by the EU copyright system, mainly the Software Directive. The main research question is the following: How can we solve the problems of interoperability relating to the internet of things created by the Software Directive? The EU digital single market, fundamental freedoms and basic principles of the EU will be a general framework for the study. The sub-questions are to following: Is interoperability possible with the legislation as it is in relation to the internet of things and what are the current problems of the legislation? Are intellectual property laws hindering the development of interoperability in relation to the internet of things and is copyright the correct way to protect software in relation to IoT? Are there any other possible solutions to the problems of IoT from the EU Copyright perspective? What about other perspectives? I will also consider some policy aspects for EU copyright law in relation to IoT and give some general policy considerations. It is necessary to consider the problem of interoperability from an legal point of view and especially from a copyright point of view. It is true that some of the problems could be solved by the relevant actors themselves conducting normal business or for example by the open source movement. On the other hand, whole other plethora of questions might also rise from the fact that software is also patentable. In the end the situation is that there is legislation about software interoperability, which has an effect on IoT. Suggestions in this relation can only be given by studying relevant copyright legislation. The reason why the study is at an EU level is because it is fundamentally at least an EU wide problem. Grand scale IoT is even more vast of a challenge. But when reviewing the problems on a European level, it is quite clear that 27 different types of legislation will not promote interoperability. This is why the study is made on an EU level. Another theoretical context that is relevant in relation to IoT (and all technology based legislation) is that the development of technology is hard to anticipate. Thus it needs to be kept in mind that less legislation or no legislation can sometimes be the better option. Legislating development is very hard but it can also be the correct answer sometimes. Current legislation also provides a framework for new legislation. In an international level the member states of the EU are members of the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works and the EU itself is a member to the TRIPs agreement. And as there is already legislation regarding software interoperability in the Software Directive and national legislation, we have to acknowledge the reality of possible limitations to policy-making and new legislation. In the first chapter I will set out the technological framework of the thesis and describe the research question. The second chapter explains the relevant EU framework. The third chapter is concerned with the main research question and chapter 4 provides the practical answers to these questions. These practical problems are mainly related to conceptual ambiguities of the Software Directive described in chapter three. Correspondingly, the practical solutions to these problems were given in chapter four, accompanied by long term policy considerations. In chapter 5 I will give my conclusions on the topic.