作品元素商品化利用的法律规制——兼论对独立商品化权益的否定

Legal Regulation of Commercialization of Elements of Works:With a Discussion on the Denial of an Independent Merchandising Right

著作权法和商标法在保护知名作品元素的顾客吸引力方面存在空白,但对这一空白地带单独赋权的正当性存疑。盗用理论不能证成作品权利人具有应受保护的利益,其依托的劳动财产权学说也过分夸大了赋权的好处。经过赋权成本和收益的权衡可以发现,不管是激励创作开发还是纠正低效使用,其带来的收益都是不确定的,因为在著作权之外另行设立商品化权益存在着重复激励以及损害竞争自由的问题,故单独赋权并不合理。对作品元素商品化利用的规制,仍然需要著作权法和商标法的共同发力。前者在认定虚拟角色等作品元素的可版权性时门槛不宜过高,否则容易造成反法一般条款的滥用。后者要以禁止混淆误认为核心,重视商品的类似性,但不应要求作品元素事先进行了额外的商品化活动。

Copyright law and trademark law cannot fully protect the customer magnetism of elements of works, but it is questionable to grant an independent merchandising right. The misappropriation doctrine does not establish that rights holders have a protectable interest, and Locke's labor theory overstates its benefits. The benefits of incentivizing creativity and correcting inefficient use are uncertain, since creating a merchandising right beyond copyright law would lead to duplicate incentives and undermine competition freedom. Hence it is unreasonable to establish an independent merchandising right. The regulation for the merchandising of work elements still requires the joint efforts of copyright law and trademark law. The threshold of copyrightability should be lower to prevent the abuse of the general clause of anti-unfair competition law. Trademark law should still focus on the similarity of goods in determining whether there is a likelihood of confusion, but there is no need for prior commercialization activities.