Laws dealing with copyright on the internet?

Answer 1

Although copyrighted material on the internet is generally treated in the same fashion as any other intellectual property, there are two pieces of legislation specifically designed to address the unique nature of the internet. The Digital Millenium Copyright Act (DMCA) and the No Electronic Theft act (NET).

Answer 2

One difficulty is that the law has always lagged behind technology, so with each advancement, there's a period where no one knows what's going on, but everyone wants to get away with as much as they can before somebody figures it out.

Another issue is a combination of two problems: first, the law is widely misunderstood; and second, digital materials are cheap and easy to move around, duplicate, and change. The result is that it's eminently possible to infringe copyright hundreds of times a day without even realizing it.

Answer 3

The main challenges of copyright are balancing and enforcement. Most of the law--by length, anyway--is an attempt to balance the rights of owners and creators with the public good. Fair use, for example, attempts to balance copyright and free speech. Enforcement is perhaps the biggest challenge, because it's simply not possible to check every single action to see whether it's infringing or not.