Kējì Fǎxué Pínglùn (Jun 2007)
論美國數位千禧年著作權法中反規避濫用原則之發展 The Development of Misuse Doctrine under DMCA
Abstract
自美國 1998 年數位千禧年著作權法（Digital Millennium Copyright Act, DMCA）頒布施行以降，該法第1201 條之反規避條款即成為美國學界與實務界最具爭議之議題。蓋在數位環境下，著作之非法重製與散布變得輕而易舉，反規避條款之制定可讓著作權人在法律的幫助下，自行設置科技保護措施，有效限制對其著作物所為之接觸行為，對著作權人而言，反規避條款儼然成為其在數位環境下，可用以操控其數位著作之最有力的新權利⎯⎯超著作權（Para-copyright）。然而此一著作權人的新權利，也使得一般社會大眾 開始憂心「計次付費」（Pay-Per-Use）的世界即將來臨，合理使用原則恐將蕩然無存。除此之外，在與傳統著作權法的交相利用下，反規避條款竟被著作權人作為用以擴張其著作權，進而達到限制競爭的目的。有鑑於此，美國學者開始提倡「反規避濫用原則」（Anti-circumvention Misuse Doctrine）的適用，希望藉此一衍用自專利法上之濫用原則的適用，能減輕反規避條款對與著作權相關之市場所帶來的衝擊。 Since the U.S. Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998 (DMCA) came into effect, the controversial anti-circumvention provisions codified in section 1201 of the Copyright Act immediately have became the most debatable issue in academia and U.S. courts. As in the modern information era, facilitated by the encompassed high technologies, reproducing and distributing illegitimate copies of copyrighted works in the digital forms can be easily accomplished by average users, which dramatically endanger the copyright owner’s rights and interests. However, with the enactment of anti-circumvention provisions, copyright owners can self-help with technological measures that effectively control access to the works protected by copyright. Despite limited exemptions are sanctioned under the anti-circumvention provisions, this legal protection of technological measures as such permits proprietary control over any kind of information, protected or not under copyright, which granting the content provider what might arguably be considered as a “Paracopyright” without the built-in limitations and restrictions of traditional copyright law, such as the fair-use doctrine. As a result, the public are concerning about the in coming World of Pay-Per-Use, and the traditional limitations on copyright, such as the fair use may be unavoidable evaporated under such new legislation. Moreover,some recent litigation may have showed that anti-circumvention provisions have been suspiciously utilized by some copyright owners as a means to restrain trade and competition. In light of this situation, scholars in the U.S. began to discuss and advocate the “Anti-circumvention Misuse Doctrine,” hoping this affirmative defense, which evolved form the patent law, can mitigate the impact caused by anticircumvention provisions to the copyright related markets.
