Summary

This work covers the phenomenon of sharing and downloading audio-visual content on the Internet. It concentrates on the problems of peer-to-peer networks and paid download services are also mentioned. The goal of this work lies in the description of this area's development history and in the interpretation of these facts from the point of view of media and cultural studies. The work also, in an extensive way, follows the law aspects of the described area. The text is divided into several thematic blocks. Firstly, it addresses the theoretical approaches to the Internet as a new medium. The next part deals with the Internet as a distributive medium; therefore it includes the technological point of view. The fourth block describes the area of peer-to-peer networks and paid download services of audio-visual content on the Internet. The fifth part presents the interpretation of the copyright law on the Internet. These sections are connected to the next part of the work, which covers legal aspects of the apprehended problems. The conclusion contains assessment of the current situation and suggests a possible development of this phenomenon in the future.