思想/表达二分法的检讨

直到19世纪末,“思想”与“表达”才作为对立的范畴加以使用。作为版权法的一项基本制度,思想/表达二分法反映了私法上的机会平等要求,它给所有的人提供了独立创作的机会。同时,它还缓解了版权与信息自由之间的紧张关系。并不是所有的表达在任何时候都能够进入私权领域。“思想”与“表达”之间的界限是模糊的,隐喻性的,它并不是一个预先将某个作品王于公共领域或者作者专有权之内的原理,而是一种事后描述。在实践中,不应把思想/表达二分法视为一个教条。

Reflection on Idea/Expression Dichotomy in Copyright Law

Idea had not been contrasted with expression until the end of the nineteenth century.As a fundamental copyright system,idea/expression dichotomy represents the parties' equality as authors entitled to their own expression.In addition,the dichotomy serves as a safety valve of copyright-free speech dilemma. All expression can not be privatized at any time.Idea/expression is vague,elastic and metaphorical,it is not a perfect doctrine which could be used predictably to decide whether to put a particular work into the public domain or not,but only an ex post facto characterization.The dichotomy should not be used as a doctrine.