外国版权客体在本国的保护

Domestic Protection of Foreign Copyright Objects

外国版权客体的保护主要以本国同外国缔结的条约为依据,这尚未在我国受到足够重视。无条约不保护原则是版权地域性的体现,但也有一定的例外。条约关系保护与互惠关系保护是功利主义理论在版权制度中的体现,而利他主义保护的存在主要归功于自然权利理论。外国版权客体的保护资格可以基于属人标准或属地标准。适用属人标准时需要考察作者身份的冲突规范。网络提供行为宜属于属地标准中的“出版”。版权条约在采取国民待遇原则的同时,在特定情况下允许实质互惠待遇以促成国家利益的对等。取低性实质互惠是实现国家利益对等的最灵活方式。我国有必要对“外保条款”予以修改,以利用版权条约中的国民待遇例外机制。著作权立法还应当吸纳限于精神权利的利他主义保护和采行取低性实质互惠方式的互惠关系保护。为遵循无条约不保护原则并避免条约义务之违反,我国司法实践应当认可相关版权条约内容具有直接适用性和优先效力。

The protection of foreign copyright objects(FCOs) in a country is mainly based on treaties to which the country is a party-a fact which is not paid enough attention to by China. The “no protection without treaty” principle reflects the territoriality of copyright, to which there are some exceptions. The utilitarian rationale in the copyright system underlies the protection based on treaties and the protection based on reciprocity, while the natural right rationale underlies altruistic protection. Protection eligibility of FCOs is based on the personal standard or the territorial standard. Conflict rule regarding authorship needs to be considered for the application of the personal standard. Interactive communication providing copies to the public should be deemed “publication” under the territorial standard. While adopting the national treatment principle, copyright treaties allow material reciprocity in certain cases, so to realize the equality of interests between countries. The rule of lower-protection material reciprocity is the most flexible approach to realize the equality. China should revise the FCOs protection provisions to take advantage of the exceptions of national treatment allowed by copyright treaties. In copyright legislation, China should also adopt altruistic protection for moral rights and protection based on reciprocity. To follow the principle of no protection without treaty and avoid violating treaty obligations, China should accept the self-executing applicability and the preempting effect of relevant articles of copyright treaties in judicial practice.