深层链接直接侵权责任认定的实质提供标准

Using Substantial Provision Test to Determine Direct Liability of Deep Link

纵观著作权权能的历史发展与现行范围,作品利用行为的责任定性包含两方面的考虑:一方面,权利人开发某种利用行为潜在的社会福利能力越强,该利用行为越可能引发责任;另一方面,利用者对内容和传播方式的干预程度越高,越可能引发直接侵权责任。深层链接的侵权责任同样由这两项因素判定,而与服务器生成复制件这一技术特征无必然联系。如果非跳转链接对内容的选择程度很高,对内容展示和传输方式的干预很强,以致用户能够直接从设链网站获得作品,则深层链接成立直接侵权,这种判定方法可称为“实质提供标准”。该标准与现有学说均有区别,模糊性、效果取向和部分深层链接应予免责等顾虑都不足以影响“实质提供标准”的合理性。

There are two factors that influence whether a certain use of a work falls within the scope of direct liability.First,the more comparatively capable the right holder is in maximizing the potential social welfare through control of a certain use,the more likely such a use leads to copyright liability.Second,the stronger the user’s intervention in arranging the content and the way the content presented,the higher the possibility is that the user will be held directly liable.Many deep link cases score high under both factors:on one hand,the right holders are in a better position to commercialize deep link.On another hand,the defendants have developed specific technical measures to target the high value works and display them on the defendant’s own websites.Whether the defendants have created copies of the works on their own servers might have been a useful proxy in the early days of internet.However,the quality of this proxy has deteriorated.A more consistent test for the liability of deep link is the substantial provision of works test.In case the defendant provides the work to the public on its own website,either through display or download,and the public associates the works more with the defendant’s website rather than the plaintiff’s website(the public need not confuse as to who the right holder of the work is),such deep link shall constitute direct infringement.Potential critics to the“substantial provision of the works test”,such as it’s too ambiguous,too consequence-oriented and might hold innocent users liable,can all be rebutted through comparison to other tests under other direct infringement uses,such as the“substantial similar test”under right of reproduction.