Intellectual Property plays a vital role in modern economies as a valuable intangible asset. Particularly, copyrights and related rights can be considered as a one of the most viable intellectual property rights which can easily be acquired as well as unduly exploited. Notably, the violation of the legitimate rights of the copyright owners has been gradually increased with the proliferation of modern technologies. It is evident that it is easier to make unauthorized copies of copyrighted works with using technologically advanced equipment within mini seconds without consuming much effort. Inevitably, such a misappropriation of property rights would challenge the interests of the owners who devoted their skills, interests and labour to create that work with a financial motive. Therefore, the existing intellectual property law is being modified in order to cater the new challenges on copyrights which occur due to the expanding nature of digital environment. The primary objective of this paper is to identify and anlyse the changing nature of the challenges on copyrights and related rights in an era of digitalization. Also, it aims to analyse the recent developments of international law for the purpose of gaining better understanding of how and to what extent these issues have been identified and addressed in international level. Furthermore, it discusses the experience of some selected jurisdictions such as Unites States, United Kingdom and European Union, in order to make out some recent trends in protecting copyrights and related rights in a digital environment. Finally, this research intends to identify the loopholes of Sri Lankan law and propose some suggestions to enrich existing law relating to copyrights and related rights so as to strike a balance between the rights of the owners and general public.

The development of Internet and e-commerce has tremendously changed the habits and behaviors of consumers. This fast and efficient medium of transaction has been able to overcome many obstacles inherent to offline transactions and as a result, e-commerce and e-transactions have become more popular among consumers who are struggling with hectic lifestyles. However, it is evident that online consumers are exposed to many inevitable challenges on the Internet, more than the offline consumers specifically with regard to violation of their consumer rights. Every consumer is entitled to several rights whether he/she is dealing online or offline, including the right to information, right to redress, right to privacy, etc.

E-commerce has emerged as a significant turning factor of the global economy since the last quarter of the 20th century. As a result of the convenient and efficient nature of the e-commerce traditional consumer transactions have rapidly been changed into online transactions. However, it is evident that online consumers have to expose serious violations of their consumer rights other than the offline consumers during a Business to Consumer (B2C) transaction. One of the major problems arises in the post-purchasing stage of a B2C transaction is dispute resolution between consumer and the trader. If goods are not delivered or delivered in an unsatisfactory condition, consumers may have difficulties to communicating with the trader. This situation becomes more complicated when the consumer and the trader are in two jurisdictions particularly in cross-border disputes. As the United Nations Guidelines on Consumer Protection declares fair, effective and transparent dispute resolution mechanism is much necessary to uphold the consumer‘s right to redress. Therefore, at present, most of the countries, including European Union, South Africa and United Kingdom have focused on more flexible, out of court solutions such as Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) and Online Dispute Resolution (ODR). However, in the Sri Lankan context, the existing consumer dispute resolution mechanism under the Consumer Affairs Authority Act is completely proceeding in an offline context. Therefore, this research intends to analyze whether the existing consumer dispute resolution mechanism in Sri Lanka is adequate to address the disputes arise in B2C e-commerce transactions. Comparative legal analysis method has been utilized in order to identify the drawbacks in Sri Lankan law and suggest recommendations. Accordingly, the findings of the research revealed that the existing consumer dispute mechanism under the Consumer Affairs Authority Act in Sri Lanka needs to be amended in order to accommodate easy to use, out of court mechanism to resolve domestic and cross border e-commerce disputes in a timely manner. This mechanism can be utilized as an ADR or ODR system, which allows consumers to file their complaints electronically and reach a decision within a reasonable time period. Keywords: Consumer Dispute Resolution, E-commerce, B2C Transactions, Alternative Dispute Resolution, Online Dispute Resolutions