On the Characteristics and Identification of Copyright Infringement Acts

Protecting Copyright is the core issue of copyright law. Punishing copyright infringers and providing relief to infringed copyrights is the core of copyright protection. The prerequisite for punishment and relief is to correctly identify copyright infringement. Compared with other types of infringement, the determination of copyright infringement is more uncertain. In many countries, the second-instance judgments of many copyright infringement cases are completely opposite to those of the first-instance courts. [1] A similar situation has also occurred in my country’s copyright protection practice in recent years. Judging from development trends, obvious infringements will likely decrease, while infringement cases in the "fuzzy zone" will increase. 〔2〕?

my country's Copyright Law currently only lists infringements, but does not provide clear standards for law enforcement and judicial agencies to identify infringements. There are no such provisions in national copyright laws and relevant international treaties. Different from this, both patent law and trademark law have corresponding provisions on the standards for determining infringement. For example, my country’s patent law clearly stipulates the scope of protection of patent rights. The patent laws of other countries also stipulate corresponding methods and main standards or guidelines for determining patent infringement. my country's patent authorities have also explored a set of methods and principles for determining patent infringement in practice. In contrast, in the field of copyright protection, there is a lack of specific legal guidelines, making it difficult to identify some infringements. In view of this, this article intends to analyze copyright infringement behavior, and based on the basic principles of civil law and the basic provisions of copyright law, combined with new issues that arise in the practice of copyright infringement, explores relevant issues in the identification of copyright infringement. ?

1. Characteristics of copyright infringement?

According to the According to the provisions of the General Principles of Civil Law, torts refer to acts in which the perpetrator infringes upon the property and person of others due to fault and shall bear civil liability in accordance with the law, as well as other infringement acts for which the actor shall bear civil liability in accordance with special provisions of the law. Copyright infringement refers to the behavior in which the perpetrator infringes the copyright of others due to fault and should bear legal liability according to law. Copyright is a civil right, and infringement of copyright belongs to the category of civil infringement. Our country's Copyright Law draws on the characteristics of the General Principles of Civil Law regarding infringement provisions and draws on the legislative practices of other countries to stipulate copyright infringement in the form of examples. Copyright Law

Articles 45 and 46 specifically enumerate 14 related infringements. Nine of them are copyright infringements, and the other five are infringements of "rights related to copyrights." With the development of science and technology and the continuous transformation of communication and copying tools, copyright infringement behavior will also take new forms.In terms of protecting copyright, Article 45 of the Copyright Law establishes a flexible clause, namely "other acts that infringe upon copyright and copyright-related rights and interests."

Based on the types of infringements stipulated in the Copyright Law and examining the copyright infringement cases that occur in practice, we believe that copyright infringement has the following characteristics that are different from property rights: What are the characteristics of infringement behavior that are different from other types of intellectual property infringement behavior:?

1. Characteristics of the infringement object?