从TRIPS协议看中国著作权的司法保护

我国加入WTO后,国内法中著作权法规定将面临与国际法相协调的问题。其中,我国著作权法与TRIPS协议在邻接权、合理使用,出租权、权利限制、执法措施等方面均有不同程度的差距。因此,我国著作权法首先应该从法规的完善上入手,逐步缩小与TRIPS协议的差距,扩大和国外的交流与合作,吸收、借鉴国外的先进经验和法律技术,并在此基础上不断加强我国著作权的司法保护力度,完善著作权的法律保护机制。     

TRIPS协议第13条“三步检验法”对著作权限制制度的影响——兼评欧共体诉美国“版权法110(5)节”案

从《伯尔尼公约》到TRIPS协议,三步检验法经历着从复制权限制的反限制到所有权利限制的反限制的扩大过程,其助推力则为美国版权法第110条款争端案和随后WTO专家组对TRIPS协议第13条的解释。对于三步检验法的三步优先适用顺序这一问题,WTO专家组以"等级命题"的方式给予回答。由此,三步检验法成为著作权限制制度适用的一个大前提,凸出了背后著作权人权利扩张的趋向,中国著作权法中三步检验法其实质为二步检验法,未来如何进行调整尚有待立法者和学界进一步思索。     

中美知识产权“刑事门槛”争端的法律问题

2007年4月美国就中国知识产权刑事保护机制问题提交WTO争端解决机构(DSB)以寻求解决。这是DSB受理的第一起就知识产权刑事保护机制问题所引发的争端。本案的争议核心是如何解释作为"刑事门槛"的《TRIPS协定》第61条所规定的"商业规模"。通过DSB解释实践,可以看出,"商业规模"的解释主权应属各成员所有,但解释边界受《TRIPS协定》第61条相关条件的限制,中国知识产权刑事保护立法机制符合《TRIPS协定》,没有必要继续下降"刑事门槛"。美国对中国知识产权的施压应由单纯要求"降低刑事门槛"转变为"如何在降低正版产品的价格情况下加大对盗版的刑事打击力度"。     

Combatting peer-to-peer file sharing of copyrighted material via anti-piracy laws: Issues,trends, and solutions

This article analyses potential end-user copyright violations associated with peer-to-peer (P2P) file sharing and the anti-piracy efforts currently underway in order to tackle them. This article discusses international developments in terms of trends, issues and solutions aimed at addressing peer-to-peer file sharing of copyrighted material. First, the article introduces P2P file sharing, its increasing significance in the growing digital media economy, and the legal issues surrounding this topic. Next, the article provides a comparative analysis of global efforts and trends in preventing digital piracy by analyzing relevant legislation, case law and practices in multiple jurisdictions, including the United States, United Kingdom, France, Sweden, and Japan. In addition, the article reviews Hong Kong's current case law and proposed legal reforms including an analysis of their deficiencies with respect to addressing P2P copyright infringement. The article concludes with an analysis of existing trends in preventive measures against copyright infringement through P2P file sharing and suggests directions on future legal and non-legal measures that Hong Kong as well as the international community can take in combating digital piracy and copyright infringement through peer-to-peer file sharing.     

All talk and no bite: Copyright infringement and piracy trends in India

The Copyright Act 1957 presents the face of modern copyright protection afforded to different intellectual works and is a key statement of intellectual property rights (IPR) in the Indian legislation governing this domain, as well as being compliant to the TRIPS Agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights. This Act has been acceptably referred to on many occasions on global platforms, on account of its being one of the most elaborate and well-structured pieces of legislation in the field of intellectual property law. However, this well encompassing, highly creditable and widely acknowledged legislation seems to fall down in its practical implementation rendering its theoretical purpose partly futile. The situation so stands, that India continues to project major piracy rates with little regression in the trend despite the fact that this law is still very much in force. The reasons which deny effective copyright protection in India, for works of miscellaneous categories, have much to do with the lack of an equally strong enforcement mechanism. This paper provides an insight into the inadequacies of the Indian legal and administrative systems which have ultimately diminished the effectiveness of the copyright regime contrary to that envisioned by the law.     

WTO规则与中国知识产权刑事立法——以美国诉中国知识产权执法措施案为背景

2007年,美国就中国知识产权执法措施向WTO提起申诉,美国三项指控中最重要的指控即中国知识产权刑事立法门槛过高,导致对知识产权保护不利,其主要法律依据为WTO的TRIPS协议第61条。本文使用WTO争端解决机构在解决争端时惯用的"条约法解释规则方法"和"综合审查原则方法",模拟站在WTO争端解决机构的角度,详细考查TRIPS第61条的上下文、TRIPS协议的目的和宗旨、中外知识产权刑事立法的历史区别、中外知识产权刑事立法体系的区别,以及中外对"构成商业规模的蓄意假冒商标和盗版"刑法规定的区别,得出如下结论:中国知识产权刑事立法虽然有待进一步完善,但并没有违反TRIPS协议第61条的规定。     

ON RESTRUCTURING THE CHINESE IPR REGIME FROM ETHNIC GROUP PROSPECT

This article discusses the restructuring of the Chinese intellectual property rights (IPR) regime by addressing the dilemmas of the Chinese IPR regime, namely, enhanced IPR legislation versus weak enforcement, trade-related aspects of intellectual property rights plus (TRIPS+) arrangements versus lack of traditional knowledge (TK) protection, unified state agencies versus interests of other nationalities. This article also proposes that China should fully participate in the process of international IPR rule making, resist TRIPS+ moves in cooperation with other TK rich states, promote TK protection, and modify administrative structures to incorporate the interests of all nationalities in China by reforming the state agencies to guarantee proper minority representation, fulfill China’s promise to the international conventions regarding minority representation, establishment of NGOs for diversity purposes, emphasis on TK protection, and promotion of setting up education programs.     

中美实用艺术品著作权保护比较研究——兼论我国实用艺术品著作权保护的路径

实用艺术品的著作权保护问题实质上是如何确立著作权保护范围及标准的问题。我国现行《著作权法》并未将实用艺术品作为受保护客体,但也并未将其排除在著作权保护范围之外。而美国在实用艺术品的著作权保护上于立法层面是非常清晰的,在《1976年版权法》中已明确将其列为受保护客体,美国法院的诸多判例也影响了实用艺术品著作权保护研究的方向。本文梳理了中美两国实用艺术品的著作权保护问题的历史沿革及现状,总结归纳了两国具有代表性的判例,以求通过对比提炼出两国著作权法及司法实践中存在的问题。美国的相关立法及其司法裁判经验对于我国实用艺术品的著作权保护具备重要借鉴价值。     

夹缝中的法律移植与传统创造——《大清著作权律》述评

作为中国第一部著作权法,《大清著作权律》更多是外力催化而非自然生长的结果,因而深深烙上了那个动荡时代的印迹,其作为政治工具的诸多缺陷也非常明显。尽管如此,它还是打开了一扇窗口,使中国人开始慢慢了解和接受著作权观念,并成为中国著作权法发展的规范源流。《大清著作权律》的制定和实施过程既是移植法律的过程,也是创造传统的过程。     

国际视野下的著作权强制许可制度探析

著作权强制许可制度已为大多数国家的国内立法所普遍采纳,国际公约也规定了这一制度以凸显对发展中国家的优惠和支持.在我国因著作权强制许可制度缺失而面临一系列困境的情况下,应首先从立法上进行完善,即引入著作权强制许可制度,形成统一协调的著作权权利限制体系,然后从执法上规范行政机关的自由裁量权,从司法上完善法律救济途径,切实给予申请人和著作权人有利的保障,从而使著作权在私权领域和公权领域的利益趋于平衡.     

试论网络作品著作权的侵权和保护

网络作品作权保护问题随着今年以来的的数起侵案的审理而现实地摆在我们面前。网络作品也属于《作权法》保护之列,应该依法加以保护。但网络这种新兴媒体有其特殊性,如果一律按现行《作权法》对有关侵权行为进行调整,将对正处于发展中的网络媒体产生消极影响。应该结合《作权法》和网络的特性,对网络作品作权加以保护。最关键的是要尽快制定相关法律。     

论著作权制度中的利益博弈与利益平衡

目前,我国已经着手对著作权法进行第二次修改。在考虑我国著作权法的修改问题时,如何从利益平衡的角度思考其中的利益博弈并寻求合作均衡,不但符合博弈各方的利益,对于达到修改著作权法的目的、实现整个社会的文学、艺术和科学事业的繁荣亦具有直接作用。这种利益博弈和利益平衡的辨析正是研究著作权法、探讨其中具体的保护性规定和限制性规定的魅力所在。具体到著作权法修改中的利益博弈和利益平衡来看,应在客观分析利益博弈现实的基础上,充分考虑利益博弈方的理性需求,将著作权制度中的权、责、利进一步明晰化,实现科学的利益分配和均衡,尽可能地避免利益博弈所带来的不必要的成本消耗。     

Is administrative enforcement the answer? Copyright protection in the digital era

Copyright protection is becoming more challenging by the day in the digital era. In line with its political policy, China has established a copyright regime with particular characteristics. While the public interest in access is highlighted, the public interest in authorship has also been imposed and taken further. It also provides for public, non-criminal enforcement - copyright administrative enforcement. Could the Chinese model possibly be a solution for effective copyright protection? This will be explored in the light of an up-to-date case analysis in both actual and virtual environments.     

中美知识产权"刑事门槛"争端的法律问题

In April 2007, the United States filed an application with the DSB of WTO with respect to the issue of criminal law protection mechanism of intellectual property rights in China, which was the first dispute accepted by the DSB arising out of the issue of criminal law protection mechanism of intellectual property rights. The core of the dispute of the case is how to interpret the “commercial scale” under Article 61 of the TRIPS Agreement as the “criminal threshold”. It can be seen from the practice of the interpretation of the DSB that while each WTO member is entitled to interpret the term “commercial scale”, the boundary of interpretation is subject to Article 61 of the TRIPS Agreement. It is unnecessary for China to lower her “criminal threshold”, since China’s criminal law protection in intellectual property policy is in compliance with the TRIPS Agreement. In fact, the United States should change from lowering the criminal threshold to how to strengthen the criminal crackdown on piracy under the circumstance of lowering the price of genuine works when imposing pressure on China in the protection of intellectual property rights. He Xiaoyong, Ph.D, is presently a professor in the Faculty of International Law in the University of East China University of Political Science and Law. He studied as a visiting scholar at the University of San Francisco (2001). He was awarded a Chevening Scholarship in 2002 sponsored by British Council and Shanghai Outstanding Teacher Award in 2004. He has released more than 80 academic articles on WTO issues and international financial law, and his monographs include Legal Aspects on Supervision under Financial Globalization (2002), International Trade Dispute Settlement and China’s Perspective: Under the WTO framework (2006) and new issues under the WTO (2008).     

Introducing the Open Clause to improve copyright flexibility in cyberspace? Analysis and commentary on the proposed “two-step test” in the Third Amendment to the Copyright Law of the PRC,in comparison with the EU and the US

The so called “three-step test”, that the limitations and exceptions of copyright shall be allowed in certain special cases, provided that they do not conflict with a normal exploitation of the work and do not unreasonably prejudice the legitimate interests of the author, grants copyright flexibilities to balance the interests of all stakeholders, especially within the European system of circumscribed limitations and exceptions. This is essential for the domain of computer law, confronted by rapid and unpredictable global technological developments, and is, thus, enshrined in the most important international intellectual property (IP) treaties. Through the proposed third amendment to the Copyright Law of the PRC, the legislature intends to adopt this test while also introducing an open-ended list of limitations and exceptions that constitutes a China-specific “two-step test.” This contravenes prima facie the thesis endorsed by the WTO Panel in the case concerning Section 110(5) of the US Copyright Act in 2000. In contrast, court decisions in China frequently apply the fair use doctrine of US copyright law, neglecting to consider its peculiar context of the US common law tradition and, thus, unduly expanding the Chinese courts' discretionary power.This paper summarizes the case law in China and takes a comparative approach to address the divergence between the judicial application of cyber copyright law and the existing legislation. It suggests revising the proposed Article 43 of the Copyright Law of the PRC to capture the due interpretation of the three-step test, thereby finessing the delineation between rights protection and free use with the compensation of remuneration under the principle of proportionality. It argues that transplanting the US fair use doctrine into Chinese copyright law is feasible, but with the preconditions of endeavouring to strengthen judicial reform to integrate the IP adjudication systems, enhancing the coherence and efficiency of copyright enforcement, and facilitating consistent dialogues between scholars, practitioners, and lawmakers.     

网络服务商共同侵权制度之重塑

网络服务商共同侵权(间接侵权)制度是影响网络版权秩序最重要的法律规则。在这一领域,美国式的安全港规则居于统治地位。十几年来的网络版权实践表明,安全港规则不合理地降低了网络服务商的注意义务,损害了网络服务商预防第三方侵权的积极性,使得网络盗版泛滥。为了克服安全港规则的制度缺陷,美国和中国的法院被迫限制适用红旗标准或策略性地适用引诱侵权和替代责任规则,结果过度扭曲了网络间接侵权规则。为了改变这一现状,中国在修改著作权法时应当果断地放弃美国式的安全港规则,恢复侵权法一般规则的适用,强化网络服务商的注意义务。     

专利当地实施要求的法律思考

各国专利法中的“当地实施要求”条款与TRIPS协议是否存在冲突 ,发达国家与发展中国家各执一词。但从立法史上来看 ,《巴黎公约》对其最初予以确认 ,其后历次大会经剧烈争论后仍将其保留 ,说明其具有历史的合理性 ;从条约解释学上看 ,根据《维也纳条约法公约》 ,TRIPS第 2 7条并不能构成禁止当地实施的“绝对条款” ,TRIPS对此问题没有明确的规定意味着应该适用《巴黎公约》的规定和TRIPS“平衡发明者与使用者之间的权利和义务”的立法宗旨 ,因此“当地实施要求”并不违反TRIPS的规定 ,具有合法性 ,是发展中国家对自己的合理保护。     

著作权文化转型与微观历史研究方法

著作权制度在后现代转型中不断受到各种源自对于著作权文化认识差异而导致的诘问。但是，目前的主流研究方法却一味的强调著作权制度的现代性和客体性，而忽视对于这一新兴法律制度的深入的历史研究，难以回应那些挑战其本体意义的质疑。而从微观的角度出发研究著作权的历史，似乎能更清楚地明晰著作权制度的本体价值。“小历史”的研究方法应当被知识产权研究的学者更加重视。     

A dilemma for feudal China: To launch a copyright scheme in the late 19<Superscript>th</Superscript> century

Based on copyright law and its jurisprudential basis in the late 19^th century of China, this article is focused on the external conditions affecting or restricting the formation and development of copyright law during this period, and also reviews the tortuous process of copyright law and theories in China, and explores the underlying influences of Chinese traditional culture and other elements. Furthermore, it analyses the significant influences of western copyright concepts on the practical development of Chinese copyright protection system. Last but not least, it argues the fundamental barriers to the development of copyright law in China resulting from the persistent gap between the notions that forced upon the legal system and those embodied in social axiology, and the conflicts and tensions induced have affected both the law making and enforcement in copyright.     

ACTA对我国国际贸易的影响及其应对策略

发达国家认为现有的TRIPS协议,虽一定程度上提高了国际知识产权的保护水平,但其在知识产权执法实践方面仍然不完善。所以,欧、美、日等主要发达国家又发起并制定了反假冒贸易协定(ACTA)。协议要求成员国强化打击假冒和盗版行为的力度,建立更高标准、更具体、更强硬的知识产权全球执法框架,并建立一个类似于世界贸易组织和世界知识产权组织国际机构以外的理事机构。ACTA的签订必将对国际贸易产生重要影响,尤其会给发展中国家的国际贸易造成巨大冲击。因此,应认真分析协议可能给我国带来的负面影响,并采取相应对策。