著作权保护期限标准的审视与重构

著作权的两类权利主体(自然人和非自然人)获得保护的正当性理由不同,相应的保护期限也应根据不同的标准确立。回顾著作权法的发展历史,二者没有被清晰区分。以自然人作者保护为前提发展而来的"照顾理论"是大部分国家现行时间标准的正当性理由。信息社会著作权法的保护范围和制度设计都有了深刻变革,要实现公平正义目标,著作财产权的保护期限应当重构:一方面,非自然人权利主体作品不应也不宜直接适用原有根据自然人作者设计的保护期限,而应根据"激励理论"参考专利法确定固定保护期;另一方面,应当审视"照顾理论"在现有背景下的合理性,对自然人作品建议采用原则上以作者生命为限结合最低保护期限的标准。现有保护期限都应缩短,在受国际条约所限该目标短期难以达成的现状下,可以调整著作权保护宽度,采用相对宽松的合理使用制度。

Review and Reconstruction of the Term Standard of Copyright Protection

The justifications for the protection of two types of copyright subjects( natural authors and non-natural rightsowner) are different. Correspondingly,the determination of protection terms should also be based on different standards. However,these two different types have not been distinguished clearly in the history of copyright law. In most countries,the"care theory"developed on the premise of protection natural persons as authors is used to justify the current time standards adopted in these countries. In the information society,both the scope of protection and the institutional design of copyright law have undergone profound changes.To achieve the cause of justice,the term of copyright protection should be reconstructed. On one hand,the current term designed for natural persons as authors should not be directly applicable for non-natural persons. A fixed protection term for the latter should be determined based on the"incentive theory"similar to the approach adopted in the patent law. On the other hand,we should examine the rationality of"care theory"in the current status quo and redefine the term standard for natural persons,which is in principle limited by author’ s life combined with the minimum protection standards. The current protection period should be shortened. Under the current situation that this target is hard to be reached in the short term,the best way to correct the negative impact of the long protection period is to adjust the breadth of copyright protection and adopt relatively lenient Rules for the fair use system.