著作權法中網路服務提供者責任避風港規範之研究

Abstract

立法院於98年4月21日三讀通過「著作權法部分修正草案」，並於同年5月13日由總統公布施行，此次修法於著作權法第三條中增訂了｢網路服務提供者｣的定義外，並增訂第六章「網路服務提供者之民事免責事由」（第九十條之四至第九十條之十二）之規範。本次修法目的，在引進「責任避風港」原則，降低網路服務提供者之被訴風險，以健全網路產業之發展。然而該等修法亦形成了新的法制問題留待學界及實務界探討處理。由於美國法係我國此立法的參考依據之一，且其｢責任避風港｣制度已實施多年，至今也累積了相當的法院判決可供參考，因此本計畫將以比較法之觀點出發，整理美國相關判決，了解適用相關規範時的法條操作實況、當事人爭議所在及政策考量等因素，俾國內司法實務適用責任避風港相關規範時參考。在政策面，本研究將從網路產業發展之脈絡，分析此次修法之正當性、必要性及其他政策考量，相關考量因素包括避風港原則對網路使用者言論自由之影響、網路服務提供者為符合本法之要求，所採取之程序上措施是否符合比例原則等。為了解新法對網路服務提供者、使用者及著作權人所帶來的影響，本研究亦將對相關業者及團體進行實證訪談。

Taiwan has enacted copyright legislation establishing safe-harbor provisions that Internet Service Providers (ISPs) may avail themselves of for copyright infringement by users. The “Internet Service Provider Liability Limitation” amendments to the Copyright Act, promulgated in May 13 2009, have been based largely upon the ISP liability limitation regime set out in the 1998 U.S. Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) Title II. Nonetheless, a large number of legal and policy issues remain unsolved in the aftermath of the new legislation. This project will first take a comparative-law approach to analyze how the U.S. courts apply DMCA safe-harbor provisions and the most-common controversies in disputes between copyright holders and ISPs. From a policy perspective, this project will examine whether the new legislation can be justified from the status quo of the Taiwan Internet industry. This project will also consider the new legislation’s impact on Internet users’ freedom of speech and private enforcement of copyright law. In order to understand such impact, this project proposes to conduct empirical interviews with ISPs and other stakeholder groups.