Research On The Users’ Rights Of Copyright Works

In response to the continuous expansion of copyright and the declining of the public domain,since Patterson,a number of scholars have proposed that the subject status of copyright law of works’ users should be respected,defining the copyright restrictions and exceptions as the users’ rights of works rather than pure infringement defenses to balance copyright interests.However,with the existing deep-rooted concepts and lack of relevant legislation,criticism goes constantly.Besides,except the concept proposal,no systematic scheme of policy construction has been put forward.The users’ rights of works does not mean creating a new right in copyright law,nor does it mean abatement of copyright,but refer to the civil rights that users can legally use copyright works and exclude copyright owners and other subjects from improper restrictions,which is not only related to but also significantly different from categories such as fair use of copyright,public domain and human rights.From a historical perspective,Users’ right(freedom)of works has gone through the process from being a fact in the printing copyright period,to the increasing restriction of freedom in the analog technology period,and then to the sharp decline in the digital network era.The establishment of the concept of users’ rights of works is justified.From the perspective of philosophy,the author centrism under the influence of romanticism and subjectivity philosophy is the ideological root of the continuous expansion of copyright.With the transition from Romanticism to structuralism and the transformation from subjectivity gained philosophy to inter subjectivity philosophy,the author centrism is declining day by day,the users of works return to the copyright ecosystem,and the users’ rights of works have philosophical legitimacy.The arrangement of copyright system leads to the increasing concentration of copyright owner’s power and the marginalization of work users.The principle of distributive justice requires to go beyond the role of copyright in wealth accumulation,endow individuals with the right to acquire knowledge and culture,and recognize that the users’ rights of works are integral part of the copyright system.The copyright system under the domination of Neo liberal economics pays too much attention to the strengthening protection of copyright,but ignores the connotation of the value of works itself.The value of works is far from the market value under the monopoly of single copyright,but also includes the value of cultural diversity under full cultural interaction.The theory of market failure and price discrimination can explain the copyright system to a certain extent,but it can not be the basis for abolishing the copyright restriction and exception system in the digital network environment.On the contrary,replacing static efficiency with dynamic efficiency requires paying attention to the incentive and impact of copyright system on subsequent innovation,determining the nature of copyright restrictions and exceptions as the users’ rights of works and giving institutional guarantee to promote long-term copyright efficiency,which has also been confirmed by the practice of copyright industry in various countries.The restrictions and exceptions of copyright involve the public’s freedom of speech,the right to education and the basic human rights to participate in culture.Compared with copyright property rights,it has a higher level of rights.The shaping of the concept users’ rights of works is helpful to deal with the impact of copyright expansion on the above-mentioned basic human rights.The author is not an isolated individual,but the product of the copyright ecosystem.Creation is a process of dialogue and exchange.The purpose of the copyright system is to build the relationship between creative participants and contributors.In addition to the copyright rights that the initial author and subsequent authors should enjoy,the users of works should also enjoy some "rights" to use works based on their contributions to culture.Interest balance is an important goal of the copyright system,which abstract public interest claims are not competent for.Recognizing the users’ rights of works and restricting rights through rights are the natural choice to balance the interest relationship of copyright in the digital network era.At present,many scholars home and abroad have questioned the users’ right of works from the level of norms and values,and thinking that it does not conform to the basic elements of rights,has logical defects,lacks the necessary social dimensions and hinders the realization of public interests,and also believing that the existing copyright rules are sufficient to protect the users of works and pubic interests.However,as a negative right to exclude inappropriate restrictions from others,users’ right of works is different from general civil rights,so normative criticism based on civil rights is not scientific.Based on the fact that some current legislation does not stipulate the obligations of obligees to users,denying the right of users of works not only ignores the opposite provisions of other countries,but also has a fatal defect,that is,denying the due legitimacy of the right of users of works with actual legislation(which may not be perfect),nor considering the future possibility of legislative changes.Although the right paradigm has its defects,in the context of the continuous expansion and alienation of copyright,replacing abstract public interest demands with specific users’ rights of works is an appropriate choice to balance copyright interests,which cannot be covered by any other alternative measures.The flexibility of international copyright treaties leaves enough space for domestic legislation on users’ right of works,with Marrakesh treaty being regarded as the first international instrument aimed at promoting users’ right of specific works.The judicial organs of Canada,Israel and other countries have clearly declared in their judgments that "copyright restrictions and exceptions belong to the right of users of works".Some national and regional legislation have given mandatory effects to some copyright restrictions and exceptions,as well as remedies against restrictions by copyright contracts and technical measures,which recognizes the users’ right status of these copyright restrictions and exceptions in fact.It can be seen that the confirmation of the users’ right of works is feasible,despite some great uncertainties.The users’ right of works is not only a transformation of ideas,but also needs guarantee from specific institutional innovation.Specifically,we should adjust the fair use system,adopt an open and flexible legislative model,broadly explain the purpose of use,exempt the behavior of helping the realization of rights,and implement the limited inversion of the burden of proof.Strengthen and improve the legal regulation of copyright technical measures,copyright user contracts and other private copyright law enforcement,require copyright owners to be responsible for the user-friendly framework,and give work users the right to obtain legal remedies.In the process of legislative revision in the future in our country,we should increase the general terms and specific circumstances of fair use,adjust the bottom-pocket clause,weaken the protection of copyright technical measures,limit the legal effect of copyright contracts,establish a public review system of copyright format contracts,improve the safe haven rules,sanction the abuse of copyright,and protect the legitimate rights and interests of network users.