私人复制的竞争合理性——以Sony案、Napster案为例

Competitive Rationality of Private Copying:Taking Sony Case and Napster Case as Examples

私人复制的竞争合理性可以从Sony案、Napster案为例进行挖掘和分析。在Sony案,著作权人通过销售预先灌录的录像带打败了私人录制。Napster案及以后的发展表明,著作权人并非是通过诉讼而是通过市场竞争打败了私人下载。案例及娱乐业近年的商业实践表明,在禁止未经授权的商业复制、私人上传以及责令网络服务商承担合理过滤义务的前提下,私人复制不但不会给著作权人造成实质性的损害,而且能够体现出竞争合理性。这种合理性表现在私人复制提供了适度的竞争激励,促使著作权人更加快速地适应技术创新和实施产品升级,还可以给消费者带来更多的选择和方便。我国音乐市场的商业实践为这个结论提供了有力的验证。

The competitive rationality of private copying can be mined and analyzed from two typical cases:Sony case and Napster case.In the Sony case,copyright owners defeated private recordings by selling pre-recorded videotapes.The Napster case and its subsequent developments show copyright owners defeated private downloads through market competition,not through litigation.The cases and the commercial practices of the entertainment industry in recent years have shown that private copying does not cause substantive damage to copyright owners but reflect the competitive rationality,under the precondition of prohibiting unauthorized commercial copying,private uploading,and ordering network service providers to assume reasonable filtering obligations.The rationality is manifested in the fact that private copying provides modest competitive incentives,prompts copyright owners to adapt to technological innovations and carries out product upgrading more quickly,and brings more choices and convenience to consumers.The commercial practice of the music market in China provides a convincing verification to this conclusion.