Disability,right to culture and copyright: which regulatory option?

Access to knowledge and participation in cultural life for persons with disabilities has always constituted a tough challenge. Recent studies show that only 5% of published works are available in accessible format, and the number plummets to 1% in developing countries. Coupled with the high costs of production and distribution, and the full reliance on public funds and intervention of public or non-profit organizations, copyright has traditionally represented an additional obstacle on the path for a broader availability of accessible works. Recently, the situation has worsened with the tilting in the balance between rights and exceptions caused by the legislative response to digital threats, when the unprecedented opportunities offered by new technologies to foster accessibility have been largely trumped by copyright law. Still, the last decades have witnessed the beginning of a paradigm shift, originating from the human rights arena, and moving towards a new definition of the interplay between authors’ rights and the right to take part in cultural life, both at a general level and with particular regards to persons with disabilities. This article offers a diachronic overview of the path that, from the rediscovery of Article 15 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights through its General Comments to Article 30 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, has led to the adoption of the Marrakesh Treaty. It then analyses, with a focus on the European Union and its Member States, the national and regional responses to the new human rights obligations, looking at the relations between legislative exceptions and model or collective license agreements. The assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of the two main regulatory options lays the groundwork for proposals of further areas of intervention, necessary to fully comply with the international human rights obligations and to achieve the fullest access to and participation in culture possible for persons with disabilities, by using the tools offered by international and national copyright law.     

我国著作权质押制度探析

著作权质押作为著作权利用的重要形式,正日益成为版权产业融资的有效途径。然而我国关于著作权质押制度的立法还比较简单,尚待完善。笔者认为立法应结合著作权的特殊性,对著作权质押的标的、合同登记的效力、权利义务分配等基本问题作出明确回答,以实现出质人与质权人的利益平衡,充分体现著作权质押制度的价值所在。     

香港打击侵犯版权罪行概论

香港特别行政区有关版权的法律依据主要源自香港法例第528章《版权条例》。新的《版权条例》于1997年订立,过去数年,随着时代的变迁,科技发展一日千里,侵犯版权的形式愈见层出不穷,加上社会各界对保障知识产权的意识日渐提高,香港特区政府当局曾多次修订条例的涵盖范围、若干罪行的定义,以及相关的罚则。修例的目的,不但是要平衡版权拥有人、社会大众及版权作品业务使用者的利益,亦须履行香港特别行政区在遵从世界贸易组织《与贸易有关的知识产权协议》的规定方面的国际责任。这些法例修订工作也表明了香港特区政府打击侵权罪行的决心,并一再彰显其对保障知识产权工作的高度重视。     

论续写作品的著作权保护

续写作品的特性有:对原作品的依附性,包括对原作内容和篇名上的依附性、名气上的依附性;自身的独创性:独创性是其最本质的特征,是续写者独立思考独立创新的结果,续写作品与原作品之间有实质性差异,与原作品是可以分离的。续写作品是对原作品的合理使用,并没有侵犯原作者的著作权,应当受到著作权法的保护。     

被误读的“思想/表达二分法”——以法律修辞学为视角的考察

"思想/表达二分法"是著作权法中一项极富特色的裁判规则,它关乎的是成本收益的利益衡量与价值取舍,而不关乎思想与表达在事实层面是否可分,学界对此的解读往往混淆了事实问题与价值问题,没能揭示其扮演的真正角色及所发挥的修辞功能。作为一项价值法则,"思想/表达二分法"无法向我们提供统一普适的裁判标准,它依赖法官在个案中基于具体情势自由裁量,正是法官的创造性努力,定纷止争的目标才得以实现。     

论我国电影作品著作权的归属

从世界范围来看,电影作品著作权的归属主要有两种立法例,一种是创作者立法例,另一种是制片者立法例。结合我国的著作权制度和法律传统,比较两种立法例的优劣,我国在第三次修订《著作权法》时,应该采纳创作者立法例,规定电影作品的作者享有著作权,制片者通过与作者签订合同获得电影作品的独占使用许可权。     

著作权法第三次修改草案的立法方案和内容安排

著作权法第三次修改草案公布后,各方都基于自己的立场提出了不同意见和观点.总的来说,本次草案兼具了国际化与本土化,平衡了产业利益与公共利益.但在一些具体规则的设计上,由于缺乏配套规范的支撑,因此可能会损害部分权利人的利益,应在后期加以完善.     

技术措施保护的隐私权限制

版权人通过技术措施收集个人身份信息,跟踪监测作品使用行为,甚至进入电脑系统进行私力技术救济,给消费者的信息隐私带来严重的威胁。为此,我国应规定技术措施不得具有隐私侵害性,限制技术措施的信息收集范围和收集方式,赋予消费者规避侵害隐私的技术措施的权利,规范版权人对消费者信息的处理利用规则。     

论音乐作品的著作权保护

音乐作品是整个著作权作品体系中十分重要的组成部分,保护音乐作品著作权反映了我国著作权法律制度的发展水平。随着网络技术的飞速发展,音乐作品在国际范围内的交流日益加深,我国的法律制度也应该与国际接轨,因而在音乐作品的保护上建立和完善著作权限制制度和著作权集体管理制度是必然的趋势。本文首先分析了音乐作品的表演权、广播权以及网络传播权三项重要的音乐作品财产权,进而对音乐作品著作权受到侵害的情形进行分析,并提出对策建议,即完善著作权权利限制制度、著作权集体管理制度以及互联网管理制度。     

The future of technological law: The machine state

Advances in technology will challenge and change the current manner in which legal regulation occurs. It has always been possible to describe governance and law as a form of technology in itself, but the growth of digital technologies provides a new means by which to regulate the population. This article posits the theory that the inherent characteristics of technology will become inherent within the digitisation of law. As law becomes an increasingly digital entity, it will become more concerned with perfect reproduction of law upon the person, and so more encompassing in its scope. In addition, the increasing use of digital technologies in augmented reality, in 3D and 4D printing both in solid and biological matter, poses a fundamental change in the regulatory relationship between the State and the individual – a challenge the State will need to address.