德国《著作权法》第八修正案评介——报刊出版者权:互联网时代的立法倒退?

Review of the 8^(th) Amendment of the German Copyright Act: Ancillary Copyright for Press Publishers: A Backward Legislation Step in the Era of the Internet?

于2013年8月1日生效的德国《著作权法》第八修正案创设了一项新的邻接权—报刊出版者权。这项权利是指报刊出版者在报刊产品出版后一年内,对其享有以商业目的进行网络传播的专有权,其主要用于对抗以Google为代表的搜索引擎和新闻聚合器在互联网上免费使用报刊产品的行为。根据德国《著作权法》第八修正案出台的背景、目的、过程、主要内容及其反响,就报刊出版者权的正当性、必要性及权利行使的可能性进行评析。德国《著作权法》此次修改反映了互联网时代日渐式微的传统媒体与作为后起之秀的互联网巨头之间的利益格局的重新调整。

The 8^th amendment of the German Copyright Act, which has been applied since August 1, 2013, created a new type of neighboring rights - ancillary copyright for press publishers. According to this ancillary copyright, press publishers have the exclusive right of press products＇ communication to the public for commercial purposes within one year after being published. It＇s mainly against search engines such as Google and news aggregators that use press products on the Internet for free. This article introduces the background, the purpose, the legislative and political processes, the main content and the responses to this amendment. It also analyses the legitimacy, the necessities and the implementary possibilities of ancillary copyright for press publishers. This revision of the German Copyright Act reflects a readjustment in the balance of interests between declining traditional media and the rising digital giants in the era of the Internet.