对游戏作品“游戏规则”著作权保护的反思

Reconsideration on Copyright Protection for Game Rules in Game Products

现行《著作权法》在保护游戏作品中的游戏规则上存在较大局限性,与游戏本身的特征不匹配。著作权法采用的“思想/表达二分原则”对游戏规则的保护不完整,著作权法保护时间长与游戏本身“寿命”短的特征不相适应,司法实践中通行的“抽象-过滤-对比法”和“整体观感法”等著作权侵权的判定方法与游戏规则的复合属性不相匹配。在数字时代需要与时俱进地拓展数字产品权利保护的范畴,为健全游戏作品等数字化产品的法律保护体系奠定坚实基础。

Current copyright law has significant limitations when it comes to protecting the rules of game products,failing to align with the unique characteristics of games themselves.The“Idea-Expression Divide”principle used by copyright law does not provide comprehensive protection for game rules.Furthermore,the lengthy duration of copyright protection does not match the typically short lifespan of games.Widely used methods in judicial practice to determine copyright infringement,such as the“Abstraction-Filtration-Comparison Test”and the“Two-step Test”,do not align with the complex characteristics of game rules.In the digital age,it is crucial to evolve and expand the protection of digital product rights,thereby laying a solid foundation for the legal protection of game works and other digital products.