文化資訊商品的特質之一即其公共財性質難以排除他人之使用，因此著作權法制被創造，並用以保障著作權所有者得以獲取其產品之市場獨佔利益。但隨著著作權法制牽涉的商業利益越來越廣，其也逐漸成為控制產業、市場、影響市場競爭、並進行水平與垂直整合之手段。本論文以跨時性之歷史分析，探討台灣影視著作權法制化後相關影視下游產業，包括錄影帶出租業、MTV視聽業、影碟租售業與有線電視產業，其版權化後產業市場秩序之改變，以及版權化如何改變上下游，甚至國內外影視產業間市場利潤之重分配，以檢視著作權對影視產業市場的真實作用與意義。

A characteristic of cultural commodities is the difficulty to avoid "free-riders". Copyright laws are enacted to ensure that copyright owners are the only people who receive profits from the cultural commodities they create. Since the development of conglomerations, copyrights have generally become one way to control the market, even in overseas markets. Moreover, copyright law contributes to an uneven distribution of profits. This research examines the audio-visual industry in Taiwan, including the videotape rental industry, video disc rental industry, MTVs, and cable TV, to demonstrate how copyrights have become a means of interfering with the competition and are, therefore, used as a tool by content producers and middle agents to control and integrate the distribution markets to increase profits.