CONTU revisited: the case against copyright protection for computer programs in machine-readable form

Professor Samuelson casts a critical eye on the Final Report of the National Commission on New Technological Uses of Copyrighted Works (CONTU) which recommended that copyright protection be extended to machine-readable versions of computer programs. CONTU appears to have misunderstood computer technology and misinterpreted copyright tradition in two significant respects. The Commission failed to take into account the historical importance of disclosure of the contents of protected works as a fundamental goal of both the copyright and patent laws. It also erroneously opined that the utilitarian character of a work was no bar to its copyrightability when both the statute and the case law make clear that utilitarian works are not copyrightable. Since computer programs in machine-readable forms do not disclose their contents and are inherently utilitarian, copyright protection for them is inappropriate. Congress acted on CONTU's recommendation without understanding the significance of these conceptual flaws. Professor Samuelson recommends the creation of a new form of intellectual property law specifically designed for machine-readable programs.     

Fair use and copyright protection: a price theory explanation

Copyright scholars suggest that computer technology has reduced transaction costs associated with copyright transfer, allegedly eliminating the need for the fair-use doctrines that were developed to allow limited use of copyrighted material in situations where the transaction costs of securing authorized use would be prohibitive. According to this emerging view, in an ideal world with no contracting costs, third party use of copyrighted material could realistically only take place with the express consent of the copyright holder. This would give the author absolute power to dispose of his work, including the right to veto uses, without the possibility of a fair use “override” of any sort.This paper shows the limits of such transaction cost-based arguments. If transaction costs provide the dominant economic justification of “fair-use” doctrines, an exogenous reduction of such transaction costs would limit the scope and application of the defense of fair use. Nevertheless, in this paper we suggest that, when viewed in light of the anticommons theory, fair-use doctrines retain a valid efficiency justification even in a zero transaction-cost environment. Fair-use defenses are justifiable, and in fact instrumental, in minimizing the welfare losses prompted by the strategic behavior of the copyright holders. Even if copyright licenses can be transferred at no cost (for instance, in a “click and pay” frictionless computer world), the strategic behavior of the copyright holders would still create possible deadweight losses.In this context, we identify a number of critical variables that should guide and constrain the application of fair-use doctrines. These variables include (a) the number of copyright holders; (b) the degree of complementarity between the copyrighted inputs; (c) the degree of independence between the various copyright holders in the pricing of their licenses; and (d) ability to price discriminate.     

Digital media and copyright law in Asia

‘A book may be good for nothing; or there may be onlyone thing in it worth knowing; are we to read it all through?’(Samuel Johnson) This section is dedicated to the review of ideas, articles,books, films and other media. It will include replies (and rejoinders)to articles, the evaluation of new ideas or proposals, and reviewsof books and articles both directly and indirectly related tointellectual property law.     

加大著作权犯罪惩治力度的思考

著作权是知识产权的重要组成部分。中国加入WTO,履行TRIPS协议,意味着要对著作权进行更为广泛的保护。反映在刑事法领域,应降低刑事起诉门槛,划定更大的犯罪圈,以加大对著作权犯罪的惩治力度。由于我国刑法对著作权犯罪规定的罪名较少,适用的范围相对较窄,客观上限制了对著作权犯罪的打击,难以适应保护著作权的需要,为此,需要时刑法进行相应的完善。     

文化产品、版权保护与贸易规则

Cultural products are commodities with cultural contents, which are neither equivalent to cultural relics nor ordinary articles. Such dual natures bring forth divergences in trade policy, mandating the generality and particularity of trade rules. The WTO rules lay more emphases on free trade while the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization put more stress on the free exchange and diversity of cultures. Nations enjoy cultural sovereignty over their cultural policies and administrative measures. The rules of intellectual property rights also influence trade in cultural products. To develop trade in cultural products, science and technologies shall be employed to create diversified and competitive products of distinct cultural values. Han Liyu, Ph.D, is an associate professor of law, and director of International Law Teaching and Research at Renmin University of China, Vice Secretary-General of WTO Section in China Law Society, and member of China’s International Economic Law Society. Mr. Han teaches and does research on international economic law and WTO law, publishing several monographs and articles on the US trade law and the WTO law. For many times, Mr. Han did research as visiting scholar in American universities and UNIDROIT. Mr. Han got a post-graduate diploma in Common Law from Hong Kong University.     

Netherlands court grants copyright protection to perfume scent

In its decision the Supreme Court of the Netherlands has upheldthe decision of the Court of Appeals of 's-Hertogenbosch togrant copyright protection to the scent of the perfume trésorbelonging to Lancôme.     

谈广告作品版权的保护问题——由一起广告作品侵权案例引发的争议说起

自我国广告市场重开以来,我国广告业以年平均40％以上的递增率持续增长,如今广告是知名度最高、出现最频繁的经济现象之一;无论是企业家,还是消费者,抑或是广告人、广告传媒,都需要和离不开广告。然而,在广告业取得长足发展的同时,由广告作品引发的侵权纠纷也渐渐多了起来。本文试图就一起广告作品侵权案例谈谈广告作品的法律保护问题,以期为广告市场的健康     

论双重版电影版权的“二元”承认与保护——一个国际贸易体制下电影版权保护的国际法新原则

境外电影作品的引进产生双重版电影版权的保护冲突问题,对此依我国现行法律无法实现对境外电影作品版权的合理保护。本文提出双重版电影版权二元承认与保护的理论,并在对这一理论进行多维分析的基础上,阐明了其合理价值及其对于完善我国涉外版权关系调整与保护的必要性和重要性;论述了境外原版电影版权的各项具体著作权在二元保护理论中的配置问题;提出了境外原版电影在中国境内享有的版权和禁止的版权的版权二分法;认为不论对境外原版电影作品的何种版权的侵权形式均应当承担民事责任以有利于禁止境外违禁作品在中国境内的非法传播,并给出立法建议以期完善我国的境外电影作品版权保护制度。     

版权质押合同及其质权人的利益保障

版权利用是版权法的一项重要制度,版权利用使得著作权人的利益、传播者的利益和使用者的利益三者有机地结合起来,真正实现版权法的目的和理念。在版权利用过程中,合同普遍存在,版权质押合同是其中主要的一种形式。本文将就版权质押合同的成立条件、版权质押合同登记的效力及质权人利益保障等问题阐述自己的一些看法。     

Webcasters’ protection under copyright – A comparative study

This paper studies the fourth generation ‘peer-2-peer’ (P2P) file sharing technology which is also known as streaming technology from the technology point of view. It critically analyses the nature of streaming technology and assesses similarities to broadcasting for the purpose of copyright protection in the name of webcasting. In addition, it considers the possibility of protecting webcasting within the framework of broadcasting under copyright and the extent of broadcasters’ rights applicable to webcasters. Based on the conclusions derived from the discussion of UK, New Zealand, Italian and US law on streaming, WIPO Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights (SCCR) draft documents will be critically analyzed. The Last part of this work will offer suggestions as to how to protect webcasting (streaming technology) under the umbrella of copyright.     

The role of standardization and interoperability in copyright protection of computer software

Copyright protection for computer software often presents a contradiction between law and the desired public policy that is the law's inspiration. The law provides incentives to individuals to create intellectual property by protecting authors through monopolistic controls on copying and distributing the authors' work. Conferring too much protection, however, may reduce incentives to create competitive products in the same market, defeating the law's constitutional purpose of encouraging the “Progress of Science and the useful Arts.” Two characteristics of computer software, technical standards and interoperability, compound this contradiction. Using economic literature on standards and the recent line of Lotus v. Borland cases, this article examines the role of standardization and interoperability in copyright protection of computer software, and suggests a part for the fair‐use defense in such cases.     

MP3技术与网络环境下音乐著作权之保护

随着以数字技术为核心的信息化技术的迅速发展,互联网在带来巨大效益和便利的同时,也衍生出许多新的法律问题。自1999年起,网上录音制品的使用,尤其是以MP3格式为代表的使用方式愈演愈烈。很多网站对MP3格式的录音制品进行收集、整理,并收集国内外歌曲的网址,提供链接,网友通过网站聆听或下载MP3。上述提供链接服务的行为引发了很多纠纷。MP3现象对传统版权国际保护的主流原则及其价值取向提出挑战,现实世界的保护制度是否同样在虚拟世界里适用?音乐制品版权人、MP3在线提供商与社会公众间如何达到利益平衡?科技进步对著作权保护带来的挑战与冲突并存,如何看待MP3法律争讼对音乐著作权法律保护制度的影响,这是本文思考的主要问题。     

浅析软件授权合同与著作权保护之关系

一、引言 随着第三次科技革命的深入,人类的生存方式产生 了巨大的变化。数字技术和网络相结合使作品的 传播具有了不同以往的特征,使作品可以被无限 次数地重复制作与传播,而且复制品传输的速度非常快。     

Digital technology: its impact on copyright law and practice in North America

Legal context. The effect of rapid technological change on copyrightlaw in Canada and the United States, and in particular on thebalance between creators' rights and users' rights. Key points. Copyright law involves a balance between the rightsof both creators and users. When initially faced with fast-evolvingdigital technology, the courts struggled with the balancingact and tipped it in favour of users' rights. The Supreme Courtof Canada elevated various exceptions to infringement to userrights, and cautioned against a low standard of originalitywhich would favour creators' rights. The US Court of Appealsremarked that introduction of new technology is disruptive tocopyright owners whose works are sold through traditional mechanisms;and others suggested that a bias in favour of owners rightsmay have well impeded the development of digital culture. Despitethe initial struggles, legislative changes, market forces andrecent deference by the courts to the balancing of various interests,have slowly restored the copyright balance, even when facedwith rapid technological change. Practical significance. Copyright litigants must give carefulconsideration to the balance between creators' and users' rights,and be prepared to justify traditional copyright protectionin fields of new technology.     

New challenges for copyright protection - Co-Reach in IPR in New Media Workshop II

The Co-Reach IPR in New Media organised a workshop on ISP Liability in London on December 7, 2010 and an EU-China Copyright Policy meeting in Vienna from December 9-12, 2010. The Workshops come at the crucial time when new regulations are being crafted to tighten copyright protection in cyberspace.     

Type of symptomatology as a form of volunteer bias

We sought to explore the relationship between type of psychopathology and consent bias. Using the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale we assessed a group of 48 forensic psychiatric inpatients. These patients were later independently approached by a researcher who attempted to get their consent for a study on the validity of self-reported criminal behavior. Thirty agreed to participate and 18 did not. The consenting patients were significantly younger and had significantly more negative symptoms than the nonconsenters. The difference in negative symptoms remained significant after age and medication dose, in chlorpromazine equivalents, were covaried out. The authors discuss the implications of these findings for forensic research.     

Privacy protection as a case study in personal rights protection in Israeli law

Personality rights, by nature, reflect the culture and values of society. Thus, it is interesting to look back on the road that Israeli law has traveled since the early 1980s, when the right to privacy as such had no trace of protection in Israeli private law, through to the present, when it is protected by both the Protection of Privacy Law and the Basic Law: Human Dignity and Liberty. Current Israeli case law, which shows that the balance between privacy and free speech in cases of publication of private information leans toward privacy, can be partially explained by historical, religious and cultural reasons. The increased privacy litigation in Israel forms part of an ever-growing protection of other personality rights in Israeli law, thus serving as a good example of this expanding trend.