Communicator's Awareness of Copyright and Related Rights in the Arab Digital Press in Light of Intellectual Property: A Field Study

Document Type : Original Article

Author

Faculty of Media, University of Benghazi

Abstract

This study aimed to identify the extent of awareness among communicators in the Arab digital press of copyright and related rights in light of intellectual property laws in Arab countries. The study is a descriptive study, in light of which a media survey approach was used on a field sample of (336) male and female journalists from various Arab countries. A questionnaire was administered to them as a tool for collecting study data. The study reached a set of important results, most notably:

- The presence of moderate levels of knowledge of the various clauses and agreements that include copyright and related rights in light of intellectual property. Meanwhile, high levels of knowledge of digital works covered by copyright in digital journalism in light of intellectual property rights were proven. The study sample also demonstrated high levels of awareness of the provisions of literary and material copyright in the digital environment in light of intellectual property rights. - It was also proven that there is a statistically significant direct correlation between the communicator’s awareness of the journalist’s rights as an author (literary and material) in light of intellectual property rights and their reflection on his professional performance, as well as the existence of a statistically significant direct correlation between the communicator’s awareness of crimes of infringement on his rights as a journalist in light of intellectual property rights and their reflection on his professional performance.

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