涉网络商业诋毁行为“竞争对手”要件的体系化解读——兼论侵害法人名誉权条款和商业诋毁条款的适用边界

A Systematic Interpretation of the Elements of“Competitors”Involved in Online Business Defamation——On the Applicable Boundary of the Provisions on Infringement of Legal entity Reputation Rights and Commercial Defamation

涉网络不当言论应由法人名誉权条款还是商业诋毁条款规制,实践中存在分歧,应通过准确界定商业诋毁行为中的“竞争对手”要件,以厘清侵犯名誉权与不正当竞争的边界。本文分析了四则典型司法案例,总结出实践中存在的狭义竞争对手说、广义竞争关系说和竞争对手适中说三种“竞争对手”要件的认定观点。笔者从文义解释、目的解释、保护客体、与侵害商誉罪条款相协调等因素分析,认为应当采纳竞争对手适中说的观点,最终得出结论:诋毁商誉行为与侵害法人名誉权行为的边界在于被诉言论是否损害了反不正当竞争法意义上的“竞争对手”的商誉。进言之,只有损害的是具有竞争对手关系的商业信誉、商品声誉,被诉言论方可纳入商业诋毁行为予以规制;反之,如损害的不是具有竞争对手关系主体的商誉,被诉言论仅能通过侵害法人名誉权予以禁止。同时,竞争对手商誉的损害不限于同业竞争者的商誉损害,但也不能因互联网因素的加入而泛化为网络经营者均具有竞争对手关系,而应结合从主观意图、竞争利益争夺和损害后果三个维度判断是否损害了竞争对手的商誉。进言之,商业诋毁的行为人在主观上要有损害竞争对手商业信誉、商品声誉的意图,且在竞争对手的商业信誉、商品声誉遭受或者可能遭受损害的同时,其自身能够从中获得相应的交易机会或竞争优势,并由此获得商业利益。

There are disagreements in practice regarding whether inappropriate online speech should be regulated by Legal entity reputation rights clauses or commercial defamation clauses.The boundary between infringement of reputation rights and unfair competition should be clarified by accurately defining the“competitors”in commercial defamation behavior.This article focuses on the identification criteria for competitors in four typical cases in practice.There are three views:narrow competitor theory,broad competitive relationship theory,and moderate competitor theory.This article analyzes factors such as textual interpretation,purpose interpretation,object protection,and coordination with the provisions of the crime of infringing on goodwill,and support that the viewpoint of moderate competitor theory should be adopted,The final conclusion of this article is that the boundary between defaming goodwill and infringing on the reputation rights of Legal entity lies in whether the accused statement harms the goodwill of“competitors”in the sense of antiunfair competition law.In other words,only if the damage is to the commercial reputation and product reputation of competitors,can the accused's speech be included in the commercial defamation behavior for regulation;On the contrary,if the damage is not to the goodwill of the subject with a competitive relationship,the accused’s speech can only be prohibited by infringing on the Legal entity reputation rights.At the same time,the damage to the goodwill of competitors is not limited to that of competitors in the same industry,but it cannot be generalized as that all network operators have competitive relationships due to the addition of internet factors.Instead,it should be judged whether the goodwill of competitors has been damaged from three dimensions:subjective intention,competition for interests,and consequences of damage.In other words,the perpetrator of commercial defamation subjectively has the intention of damaging the commercial reputation and product reputation of competitors,and at the same time as the commercial reputation and product reputation of competitors are or may be damaged,they can obtain corresponding trading opportunities or competitive advantages from it,and thus obtain commercial benefits.