A political-economic analysis of copyrights in the audio-visual industry in taiwan: A history of copyright law, the audio-visual industry, and market control

A characteristic of cultural commodities is the difficulty to avoid "freeriders". Copyright laws are enacted to ensure that copyright owners are the only people who receive profits from the cultural commodities they create. Since the development of conglomerations, copyrights have generally become one way to control the market, even in overseas markets. Moreover, copyright law contributes to an uneven distribution of profits. This research examines the audio-visual industry in Taiwan, including the videotape rental industry, video disc rental industry, MTVs, and cable TV, to demonstrate how copyrights have become a means of interfering with the competition and are, therefore, used as a tool by content producers and middle agents to control and integrate the distribution markets to increase profits.