著作权拒绝许可行为的竞争法分析——欧洲法院IMS案判决研究

Analysis of Exclusivity of Copyright from the Perspective of Competition Law

著作权的排他性具有限制竞争的效果,但如果权利人同时是一家支配企业,则其著作权的行使应受到竞争法的制约。根据欧洲法院IMS案判决,如果同时满足以下三个条件,则拥有支配地位的著作权人必须将其著作权向竞争者授予许可,否则,其拒绝许可行为即构成支配地位的滥用。这三个条件包括:(1)拒绝授予许可阻碍一种新产品的出现,而对这种产品,存在着潜在的消费需求;(2)拒绝授予许可没有合理理由;(3)通过拒绝许可,著作权人消除了二级市场上的所有竞争。这套标准很好地协调了著作权与竞争法的关系,更好地揭示了二者在维护创新目标上的一致性。

The a dominant undertaking exclusivity of copyright has some restrictive effects on competition, but if the holder is in the relevant market, the exercise of the right is restrained by competition law. The judgement of EC Court of Justice in IMS established the following three conditions according to which refusal to licence copyright by a dominant undertaking to its competitors constitutes abuse under Article 82 of EC Treaty （ 1 ） the refusal is preventing the emergence of a new product for which there is a potential consumer demand ; （2） the refusal is unjustified; （3） it will exclude any competition on a secondary market. By these criteria the judgement achieves a good balance between copyright law and competition law, and reveals their common purpose to promote innovation.