侵犯著作权的惩罚性赔偿与表达自由

著作权侵权具有易发性、难以预防和控制、侵权成本低与维权成本高的特点。传统民法认为,侵权损害赔偿只具有填补损害的功能。然而,作品作为一种典型的公共产品,著作权人对作品的控制较弱,补偿性损害赔偿难以为著作权提供足够保护。因此,在著作权侵权救济中应引入惩罚性赔偿。同时,考虑到惩罚性赔偿有可能会不合理地限制作品的传播进而影响到社会公众的表达自由,在惩罚性赔偿的适用范围和条件上应当做出一定限制。

Punitive Damages of Copyright Infringement and Freedom of Expression

Copyright infringement is vulnerable,difficult to control.Traditional civil law insists that tort damages are compensatory,not punitive.However,the public goods attribute of work make copyright vulnerable.Compensatory damages are unable to provide adequate protection for copyright.Therefore,the punitive damages system should be introduced in the copyright infringement.At the same time, considering the punitive damages may be unduly restricting the spread of work,the scope and the conditions should be limited.