Attitude of the Consumers of Cultural Goods on the Internet Toward Copyright Law – the Case of Manga Fans

Abstract

The development of digital technology and the Internet changed the ways of participating in culture. Copyright law does not keep up with the creative revolution that develops in cyberspace and through its existence. Attempts to tighten regulation of intellectual property do not lead to ensure the effective protection of authors and do not support creativity. The paper analyses the attitudes of consumers of manga market in Poland towards copyright law. This paper reviews the existing sources, and presents results of research conducted by authors. To identify attitudes of manga fans towards copyright law, interpretive approach was applied. 2 interviews were conduct-ed in the form of minigrup, including 9 people aged 13–16 years (group chosen due to the profile of manga readers in Poland). This research confirms that the young appreciate the dissemination and use of cultural goods on the Internet. Young fans do not take into consideration legal cons-quences of their behavior, since they believe law will not be applied to them. The current law is not only ineffective, but it works even corruptive on the young generation which while living in constant violation of the spirit of the law, become resistant to them.