我国民法典视野下的数字内容瑕疵担保责任——基于欧盟背景下德国法的比较法考察

The Warranty against Defect of Digital Content from the Perspective of the Civil Code of China——An Analysis based on a Comparative Review of German Law in the Context of the European Union

数字内容交易目前在全球数字化背景下蓬勃发展,其中,有关数字内容的瑕疵担保责任问题备受关注;立法上欧盟在新出台的《有关提供数字内容和服务的合同交易指令》中有三个条款对此作了专门规定,同时,德国也将此规定完全予以转化适用。基于现有欧盟背景下德国法有关数字内容瑕疵担保责任的比较分析,可知其不但能准确认定数字内容交易中的瑕疵形态与有效提供救济,而且有助于消费者保护。根据我国现有一般物之瑕疵担保规定并结合我国民法典编纂以及域外法经验,在解释论上,通过相关类案的比较分析,我国就此有借鉴适用的必要性;在立法论上,今后在我国《民法典》的解释与适用过程中,可先在《民法典(合同编)》司法解释中原则性地规定有关数字内容瑕疵担保责任,再另行制定具有针对性的单行法,从而有助于数字时代的我国消费者保护与数字经济发展。

Digital content transactions are currently flourishing in the context of the global digitalization and the issue of the warranty against defect of digital content has received extensive attention.For example the European Union has recently promulgated the Directive on Certain Aspects concerning Contracts for the Supply of Digital Content and Services in which the issue is specifically addressed through three articles and Germany incorporates such articles into its law.Based on the comparative analysis of warranty against defect of digital content in German law in the context of the European Union it can be concluded that such articles could not only accurately identify the defective forms in digital content transactions and then provide an effective relief but also improve consumer protection.Therefore according to the existing provisions of China on the general warranty against defect and combined with compiling the Civil Code of China as well as experiences from the aforesaid law comparison on one hand in terms of interpretivism through the comparative analysis of relevant cases it is necessary for China to draw lessons and apply such warranty on the other hand in terms of legislation in the future process of interpreting and applying the Civil Code of China the warranty against defect of the digital content may be generally stipulated in the Judicial Interpretation of Civil Code Contract Section first and then a separate law may be specially formulated so as to promote the consumer protection and the development of digital economy in China in digital age.