Cinema and Technology
Transformaciones en la distribución audiovisual y nuevos desafíos regulatorios.
These developments have led the film industry to proceed cautiously in transforming its traditional business model. A limited number of production companies have begun experimenting with alternatives to the conventional release window sequence. Some initiatives have included offering DVDs for sale in cinema lobbies while a film is still being screened, allowing viewers to purchase a copy immediately after watching it. In other cases, films have been made available for paid download or through subscription-based services. A notable trend has been the rise of direct-to-DVD releases. Certain initiatives function as experimental trials, while others reflect a strategic focus on markets where economic returns are more favorable.
Television has also experienced adjustments to its business logic. Traditionally, free-to-air television relied on advertising revenues, whereas cable and satellite operators depended on subscription income. Increasingly, television content—particularly series—is distributed online. One emblematic development has been the commercial availability of individual episodes of popular series through digital platforms such as Apple’s iTunes Store and Amazon. Although these shifts signal change, they do not yet amount to a structural transformation. More significant developments have occurred in legislative and judicial arenas. While legislative reforms have not been revolutionary, industry actors have actively promoted new laws intended to address tensions between users and rights holders, without fully resolving the underlying conflict.
A major legal milestone was the adoption of the World Intellectual Property Organization treaties in 1996. Two new international agreements signed in Geneva—the WIPO Copyright Treaty (WCT) and the WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty (WPPT)—sought to consolidate prior achievements in copyright and related rights protection, building on the Berne Convention, the Rome Convention of 1961, and the TRIPS Agreement. Both treaties introduced two innovative provisions designed to counter challenges posed by the rapid expansion of digital technologies.
The first was the anti-circumvention clause concerning Technological Protection Measures (TPMs). The second addressed the protection of Rights Management Information (RMI). These clauses established minimum standards requiring signatory states to incorporate adequate legal protection and effective remedies into their domestic legislation. Under the anti-circumvention provision, countries must provide legal safeguards against acts that bypass effective technological measures used by authors to exercise their rights. A similar obligation applies under the WPPT to protect performers and phonogram producers.
The rationale for these measures emerged from the evolution of digital technology, which enabled the production of perfect copies without quality loss. Content industries developed protective technologies, only to see them circumvented by new tools designed to defeat such protections. The anti-circumvention framework sought to interrupt this cycle by rendering the development, distribution, or use of technologies intended to evade TPMs unlawful. Critics argued that such rules risk constraining innovation by limiting certain forms of technological development. Nonetheless, the objective was to strengthen copyright enforcement in an environment characterized by rapid technological change. The protection of Rights Management Information complemented this approach by safeguarding data that identifies authorship and usage conditions, reinforcing the legal infrastructure of digital content markets.
