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Study On Secondary Liability For Copyright Infringement

Posted on:2007-08-29Degree:MasterType:Thesis
Country:ChinaCandidate:L LiFull Text:PDF
GTID:2166360212957908Subject:Law
Abstract/Summary:PDF Full Text Request
There are two possibilities of imposing liabilities for copyright infringement on the third parties who have not themselves engaged in the infringing activities. One possibility is the parties engage in personal conducts that encourage or assist the infringement. The other is when they have the right and ability to supervise the infringing activity and also have direct financial benefits from it. The doctrines of contributory infringement and vicarious liability were broadly adopted in copyright law. When copyright owners are difficult to find the primary infringer or simply realize that the suit against the primary infringer would be time-consuming or energy-consuming, they might initiate a direct lawsuit against the third parties. As new technologies emerge for disseminating copyrighted works, the occasions for direct infringement via the Internet and advanced technology providers have increased as the huge amount of infringing materials having been uploaded by the subscribers and users. As a result, the copyright owners prefer to seek recovery from the providers of equipment and service e.g. ISPs or advanced technology providers that enable direct infringement rather than the individual infringing conductors. How to identify the secondary liability, how to balance the interests between copyright owners, technology providers and the public in new technological age are the crucial problems that Chinese legislature and judiciary confronted.The thesis has five parts discussing secondary liability in the context of copyright law.Part One. The Preface first introduces the background, purpose and significance of the topic.Part Two (Chapter One) discusses the growing recognition of contributory infringement and respondeat superior in Chinese legal system, the legislative and judicial history of secondary liability in common law and civil law system. Then explores significant necessity for codifying secondary liability in China due to gap between existing theory of joint liability and proposed principle of secondary liability.Part Three (Chapter Two) examines the basic principle of secondary liability for traditional copyright infringement, the development of secondary liability for traditional copyright infringement in case law and statute in common law system as well as in China.Part Four ( Chapter Three) focuses on the legal issues regarding secondary liability for copyright infringement in Internet environment, such as possible liability ISP can be held for infringing acts committed by their subscribe, the development of case law and statute regarding secondary liability for copyright infringement of ISP in the US and EU. Meanwhile, the improvement and existing problem regarding secondary liability of ISP in Chinese judiciary and legislature are also be discussed.Part Five. The Conclusion summarizes and evaluates the main content of this thesis. Therefore, the adoption of secondary liability for copyright infringement makes economic, logical and practical sense to achieve adequate and effective protection of Intellectual Property rights.
Keywords/Search Tags:Copyright Law, Secondary Liability, Contributory Infringement, Vicarious Liability
PDF Full Text Request
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