The concept of lawful access and its implications for user freedoms in the EU copyright acquis: Opinion of the European Copyright Society

The advent of digital technologies and connected patterns of production and consumption has progressively displaced ownership in favour of access as the predominant mode of enjoyment of works of authorship and other information goods. This transition from acquiring physical copies to subscribing to digital services has become prevalent across various sectors and has even enabled new commercial, cultural and scientific practices. However, it also marks a major shift in the theory and function of copyright: it transforms a right primarily concerned with regulating certain exploitations and circulations of works into one capable of controlling individual acts of access and use.