Copyright in the Age of Sharing: Platforms, Users, and the Law’s Structural Paradox

Abstract

Social media runs on sharing; copyright runs on exclusion. When these operating systems collide, platforms rewrite the rules through click-through contracts, opaque algorithms, and sweeping licenses. This article traces that shift: from paparazzi lawsuits to embedding fights, from US “server test” chaos to the CJEU’s move toward platform-as-publisher. It unpacks the DSM Directive’s bargain – ex ante “best efforts” (filters, licensing, stay-down) versus hard-edged safeguards for lawful uses – and shows how over-blocking and private Terms of Service still tilt the field. The payoff is a practical blueprint: machine-readable signals for exceptions, auditable error targets, symmetric notice/counter-notice, non-override of users’ rights, targeted injunctions, fairer collective licensing, and real EU-level harmonization. Bottom line: calibrate code, contracts, and courts so creativity thrives without turning platforms into copyright police.