Works in the traditional sense are mainly expressed in the form of manuscripts, printed materials, and audio-visual works, and the boundaries between the works can be said to be clear. In the network environment, due to the development of digital technology, almost all works can be freely digitized through computers, so information can be freely realized in multimedia. The so-called multimedia refers to a means of expressing information effects by using digital technology to rely on unified processing of multiple means of expression such as text, sound, and images. Through this means, an intelligent operating environment can be realized.
Against this background, three significant changes have taken place in the works.
First, the dividing line between various types of works is becoming increasingly blurred. For example, when reporting news, people gradually gave up the original single text writing method and replaced it with hypertext structure presentation. The so-called “hypertext structure presentation” refers to people using multimedia technology to create works, and the texts formed are not only text texts, but also sound texts, picture texts, animation texts, and even film and television texts. The works created in this way can be said to be vivid and lifelike. In the 21st century, news reports have gradually changed from being mainly linear text to being mainly hypertext structure. The emergence of this new way of creating works has blurred the boundaries between literary works, fine arts works, film and television works, scientific works and other works. A final work may cover several basic types of works. In this regard, in the copyright law of the 21st century, the significance of strictly distinguishing various types of works will become increasingly diluted, and a universally applicable standard may be adopted in protection.
Second, the connection between works and carriers is gradually fading. In the process of dissemination and utilization, works in the traditional sense must be solidified on tangible carriers, while the application of digital technology has directly led to the digitization of work information. Whether it is language works or other works such as music, they can be recorded in binary numbers of “0” and “1”. When they are disseminated, they can often directly spread information to every corner of the world through the Internet. Therefore, the information in the work can circulate freely, and the relationship between the work and the carrier begins to fade. “Digital technology is gradually cutting off the parasitic relationship between intangible objects and tangible objects seen in traditional commercial transactions of works… Works no longer exist independently by borrowing the outer garment of tangible objects. my country is facing a brand new situation.” Nevertheless, my country should not be too absolute on this issue and deny the role of carriers in the information age, because the dissemination of a lot of information still needs to rely on media such as CDs and floppy disks.
Third, the standards for the protection of works are blurred. As far as works in the traditional sense are concerned, originality is the only condition for the protection of works. This is because traditional works are easier to distinguish the creative achievements of individuals, and their artistic level can be subjectively evaluated. In the information age, works, especially those created with multimedia, contain a large amount of data, some of which are original and some are not. In this case, it is difficult to define the originality of the above works, and it is also difficult to distinguish the copyright of each part, because it is difficult for people to tell which part was created by whom.