Abusive copyright litigation,proposed solutions,and the implications for Creative Commons licenses

US Copyright Law empowers rights holders to enforce their rights and to defend the market value of their intellectual property through litigation. So-called copyright trolls are rights holders who exploit the law and the court system by pursuing allegations of infringement primarily to generate revenue through court-awarded statutory damages or settlements outside of court. Such abusive litigation undermines the intention of the US Constitution's Patent and Copyright Clause as well as the public's respect for copyright. Yet legislative reform intended to deter abuse may impact those offering their work under Creative Commons (CC) licenses when they seek to enforce their rights. This article presents the ways in which legal scholars define abusive copyright litigation and their recommendations for thwarting it. Then, using examples from actual court cases, the article suggests potential implications of these recommendations for the enforcement of CC licenses.     

美国国有数据与信息共享的法律基础

美国对联邦政府拥有和资助生产的数据采用"完全与公开"的共享政策.这-政策的主要法律依据是"信息自由法"及"版权法".信息自由法规定,除非法律另有说明,联邦政府的所有信息必须公开;版权法规定,联邦政府的信息不受版权保护,所以政府无法使用版权法限制数据共享.联邦政府通过制订其它法律和政策落实了对国有数据和信息的控制、管理、存档和高效利用.     

Linking to Online Content Becomes Copyright Infringement: Lessons from Aereo

Although many Internet users presume linking to online content is permissible, copyright owners have long complained that it constitutes copyright infringement. The Supreme Court recently resolved this issue in ABC v. Aereo, holding that pursuant to the Copyright Act’s “Transmit Clause,” an Internet transmission of a copyrighted work is a performance of it. Therefore, inasmuch as transmission occurs by inserting and clicking on a link, the link performs the copyrighted work, and may infringe. This article analyzes linking as a species of copyright infringement, and details which types of links infringe, who faces liability, and what defenses exist.     

科技报告委托方著作权问题分析

介绍科技报告所涉及的工业产权与著作权种类,论述科技报告合作作品、职务作品、委托作品的三重作 品性质,着重分析科技报告著作权的诞生、转移、归属状况。文章得出科技报告著作权在项目合同书中无另行约定的 情况下,归属项目承担单位的结论。这种著作权归属不利于国家科技报告制度的建设,在阐明了国家对科技报告著作 权的需求后,文章提出国家合理取得科技报告著作权的方式,认为国家应该与项目承担单位约定对科技报告取得排他 许可授权。     

Steps to Global Licensing Success

The impact of evolving technology on those who create content and those who use it has raised many interesting copyright-related challenges that legislators, copyright experts, authors, publishers and licensing organizations around the world are looking to address. Several international initiatives underway highlight the evolving global copyright landscape, including a report commissioned by the UK government calling for the creation of a “Digital Copyright Exchange.” Through such international efforts—and through the content licensing experience of collective management organizations—the best solutions to the copyright challenges of our time can deliver efficiency to everyone involved.     

网络信息资源共享的著作权利益补偿机制研究

指出著作权利益补偿是解决网络信息资源共享与著作权保护之间矛盾问题的有效途径。通过分析网络信息资源著作权利益补偿主体之间的关系,构建网络信息资源著作权利益补偿的运行机理与交易流程,重点围绕著作权人与网络服务提供者的利益补偿关系,建立著作权人与网络服务提供者利益补偿的委托代理模型,并提出网络信息资源著作权利益补偿机制的实现要素。     

著作权侵权损害赔偿制度的适用探析

为准确理解和运用新修订的《中华人民共和国著作权法》增加的关于著作权侵权损害惩罚性赔偿制度,文章对侵权责任构成要件的主观方面、客观方面、损害后果以及罚赔数额等进行了探析,并厘清著作权侵权中惩罚性赔偿、补偿性赔偿和法定补偿的关系,以期在保护著作权人权益的基础上,推动著作权的有效利用,促进文化繁荣。     

关于我国网络法定许可制度的探索

介绍传统法定许可制度的分类，并对《最高人民法院关于审理涉及计算机网络著作权纠纷案件适用法律若干问题的解释》第三条的规定进行诠释。     

“I own it,don’t I?” The Rules of Academic Copyright Ownership and You

Abstract

This article delves into a few areas of copyright law that academic authors often overlook: joint author’s rights and the work made for hire doctrine. Scholarly publications produced by university professors often include more than one author. The default copyright laws apply to any such works if there is no specific written agreement to the contrary. Thus, it is important to understand what those default rules are in order to determine whether it is appropriate to deviate from them in an author agreement. Similarly, the work made for hire doctrine would normally apply to make all work produced by professors owned by the university. Luckily, many universities do not wish to own such work and give it back to professors through university statutes and other governing documents. However, it is crucial to understand whether the default rules apply or the university permits professors to negotiate their own author agreements with publishers. Finally, if authors own their own scholarly works, publishers can expect that they will negotiate their rights in the publishing agreements to benefit the terms most favorable to the author. And yet, many faculty members simply sign a standard authorship agreement without asking for concessions on the part of the publisher. Thus, this article empowers professors to exercise their copyright rights to the full extent of the law and to negotiate their author’s agreements to benefit themselves and society as a whole through open access and the use of Creative Commons licenses.     

著作权例外的内涵及其相关理论研究

界定了著作权例外的内涵与外延,分析了著作权例外与著作权限制的联系与区别,指出著作权限制涉及的是著作权的保护是否成立的问题,如地域限制、时间限制,而著作权例外是在著作权保护成立的前提下,对处于版权保护状态的版权作品加以利用的豁免情形。在此基础上,依据当前主要国家著作权法有关著作权例外的规定,剖析了著作权例外的性质、类型与体系。     

Publish or perish: Clock is ticking for unpublished works

Conclusion For publishers or authors’ estates holding rights to 2003 Works or Post-2003 Works, time is running short. The Copyright Act provides an opportunity to extend the copyright in these works, but the deadline for doing so is neither flexible nor far distant, and copyright owners who fail to take advantage of this opportunity will not likely get a second chance.     

高等学校机构知识库资源征集的著作权策略探讨

著作权管理是高等学校机构知识库资源建设的重要法律问题。以著作权状态为标准,可以把高校机构知识库储存的资源分成五大类。高校机构知识库资源征集的著作权障碍包括:著作权政策不完善、共同拥有的著作权的制约、作者对著作权侵权的担忧、著作权立法存在不确定性。解决该问题应采取如下措施:制定统一的机构知识库著作权管理的政策架构、提高机构知识库著作权资源授权协议的规范性、建立鼓励性与强制性相结合的资源自存储政策、主动与出版商合作建立著作权的许可使用机制、在高等教育界宣传普及机构知识库的基本知识。     

网络环境下的著作权保护

计算机以及网络技术的迅速发展,给网络环境下的著作权保护带来了一系列新的问题,本文分别从数字化作品的著作权归属、作品在网络上传播的性质以及网络环境下作品的著作权管理等三个方面对网络环境下著作权保护作了一点分析。     

论图书全文数据库版权授权的获得

版权授权方式是图书全文数据库制作者利用版权作品的主要模式。本文分析了图书全文数据库涉及的版权归属问题，提出了图书全文数据库制作者取得版权授权的途径和策略。     

What publishers need in national copyright laws

Because copyright is both an economic and a cultural concept, the role of the publisher is frequently misunderstood and must constantly be explained to legislators, particularly during their deliberations over copyright law. A copyright law that meets publishers' needs should (1) guarantee a reasonable level of protection; (2) not contain legal limits or exceptions to copyright protection; (3) protect works irrespective of the technical method with which they are fixed; and (4) leave the author and the publisher free to negotiate the terms of their publishing agreement.     

Exploring copyright knowledge in relation to experience and education level among academic librarians in Kenya

Since the year 2001, Kenya’s copyright regime has extensively been shaped by Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) agreement; World Intellectual Property Organization Copyright Treaty; Africa Growth Opportunity Act (AGOA); and The Cotonou Agreement, which have advocated for effective copyright administration and management structures in addition to stiffer penalties for those who violate copyright laws. Despite better administrative structures being put in place, copyright infringement in Kenya has persisted. Being able to balance the needs of rights owners and information consumers becomes a critical role librarians have to play. Knowledge about copyright, thus, becomes critical. Despite the fact that librarians in Kenya are not a homogenous group, how knowledgeable the different librarian cadres are concerning copyright issues is least understood. The raison d’être for this study is to find out whether different cadres of librarians based on academic qualifications differ in the level of knowledge on copyright issues. A questionnaire was used to collect data. Results indicate no statistically significant difference in self-reported knowledge of copyright among the five librarian cadres based on their education level and neither is there a statistically significant difference based on librarians’ years of service. Statistically significant differences among the five librarian cadres exist when we compare “tested knowledge” of copyright issues. Evidence of insufficient mastery of provisions in the Kenyan copyright law does exist.     

图书馆建立数字版权补偿金制度问题研究

阐述了版权补偿金制度的涵义,着重论述建立图书馆数字版权补偿金制度的必要性与可行性,并提出了该制度引入我国所面临的困难,最后就具体的制度设计问题作了探讨。     

(1) The Training of Hospital Librarians in the U.S.A.

Copyright, a legal discipline concerned with the protection of the moral and economic rights of the creators of literary, scientific and artistic works, is recognized in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (Article 27.2), as are the rights to information and culture. This intellectual right amounts to a monopoly on exploitation for authors, which is the subject of national legislation and international conventions designed to ensure its worldwide harmonization. Since the invention of printing, which brought it into being, copyright has been adapted to the various technologies for disseminating and communicating works of the mind that have subsequently developed. Because respect for copyright is a fundamental requirement for the full development of the creative work for which it provides remuneration, copyright today is faced with the difficulty of maintaining the delicate balance among the legitimate interests of authors, successors-in-title and the general public in the digital environment. This paper illustrates a highly topical international debate, analyses international agreements adopted under the aegis of WIPO (World Intellectual Property Organization) last December and describes UNESCO's doctrine on the subject.     

新著作权法对数字图书馆建设的影响

我国新著作权法增加了很多与数字图书馆建设密切相关的规定,主要包括：作品数字化行为的法律定性、出租权和信息网络传播权等新权利的设定、权利的限制、版权集体管理组织的规定、对数据库视为“汇编作品”进行版权保护等。     

美国对数字出版中侵权现象的应对措施

美国现有的版权法律条文不能有效地应对数字出版商们的忧虑.尽管数字作品可以享受和印刷作品同等的版权保护,我们似乎仍然需要新的法律条文和理论来应对数字作品和技术的特殊性质.在面对与数字侵权有关的问题上,美国通过立法、改进美国版权署的职能以及签订国际条约或协定,缓慢开始颁布一些关于数字侵权的条文.数字侵权虽然在庭审中得以应对,但法庭运用的是传统版权概念中的"合理使用"来分析数字侵权.目前,人们只能通过诉讼的方式迫使美国法庭建立一套能充分解决电子侵权的法律体系.