Clash of cultures – integrating copyright and consumer law

In digital content markets, access to and use of digital content products are largely subject to contractual agreements and licensing conditions between suppliers and consumers. The fact that consumers acquire digital content by way of contractual arrangements implies that their relationship with the suppliers of these products is governed by two sets of rules: consumer law and copyright law. Attempts to integrate copyright and consumer law and policy and to accommodate the interests of the consumer of copyright protected content soon encounter conceptual and political challenges. The question that this article examines is what the main conceptual differences between consumer and copyright law, and the resulting ‘‘clash of cultures’’ are that need to be overcome before dealing successfully with copyright law related matters in consumer law.