concentrate on the technical aspects and tend to ignore
the legal and functional aspects concerning how the
technology will be used.

During extensive research for my university dissertation
earlier this year, I came across only two articles which
related to the legal aspects of multimedia.  Despite
heightened interest in multimedia since then, copyright is
only evident due to its absence.

Why is this?  Perhaps because issues such as copyright are
too complex and less exciting that the technology itself.


Current problems which must be solved

The current copyright laws and author's rights and
protection under the law are currently inadequate
concerning multimedia.  The problems to be overcome stem
from the diverse nature of multimedia.  It is not clear
how the law as it stands at present will relate to these
problems.

The technology of multimedia makes it possible to sample
and reproduce all forms of media easily and quickly.  The
problem is that if the source material is copyrighted it