What are some disadvantges of copyright laws?

Answer 1

It is intentionally vague, in a misguided attempt to be flexible.

It gives content owners all the rights, and users all the responsibility.

It fails to adapt to new technology. When it does, it tries to use old rules on the new technology, even when that makes no sense.

It is almost universally misunderstood.

It fails to acknowledge the concept of orphan works.

Answer 2

Certainly. One currently (2011) in the news is the lack of a provision for orphan works, works for which the rightsholder cannot be identified or contacted. Another is the failure to differentiate between a 12-year-old downloading a picture from Flickr and using it in his homework, and a cabal of southeast Asian crime lords manufacturing and distributing millions of pirated DVDs.

There are also problems with how the law is interpreted and applied; because of this, case law is inconsistent to the point of randomness.

Answer 3

Copyright laws struggle to balance the rights of creators with the public good, consistently fail to react appropriately to technological advances, and treat the user as guilty until proven innocent.