Legal Regulation Research On The Technologically Protective Measures Of Copyright

With the rapid development of the digital technology, The Internet has been immersed into every corner of social life. Network technology and Network environment has changed people's life style. People sitting in front of the computer, hundreds of millions of digital information can be obtained by clicking the mouse, the keyboard. As Negroponte claimed, our lives have been "digitized". Rapid development of information networks has brought new opportunities and challenges to the development of the copyright system. As digital technology applied in information network, Violations may occur in any field covered by Internet. In the network environment, People can access the works of others in various ways. Copyright owners are faced with difficult to maintain the rights and rights of the security works, who usually cannot get effective help from law against a great deal of pirating. This will inevitably lead to the infringement flooding. As a powerful means to protect copyright, technological measures are widely used to deal with more and more serious infringements of copyright by obliges in digital times.Technological measures have the advantage of self-help. In order to protect their interests, copyright owners use technological measures to protect their copyright. "As virtue rises one foot, vice rises ten", Technological measures may be destroyed or bypassed, Even worse, the cracking methods can be found everywhere on internet and be free to everybody. So it has produced the demand for the legal protection, and reflected through the legislative motion provided by the copyright circle. WIPO enacted WIPO Copyright Treaty and WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty on December 1996, and technological measure was taken into the system of law to be protected first. The WCT and WPPT clearly defined States Parties Should provide suitable legal protection and effective relief methods for the technical measures which is took by the righter. Under the influence of this trend, most countries provided legal protections for the technical measures. American and European Union go ahead in both legislation and judicial practice. American's Digital Millennium Copyright Act and Australia's Digital Agenda Act establish a comprehensive and detailed copyright protection system for the technological measures.Legal protection for technological measures virtually enlarge the rights of copyright holders, and break the traditional balance copyright between the interests of the public and copyrights owners. Technological measures of copyright protection impact the public interest, the public's freedom of expression and traditional copyright law in the first sale and fair use of the principle of a tremendous. Balance of interests, as the cornerstone of the copyright system, but also the goal pursued by the copyright system, The traditional copyright law achieve this balance of interests by the traditional system. Thus, there is no doubt that fair use is the most complex problems in dilemma caused by digital technology copyright law. Network technology and information technology makes the original system of fair use of the permitted acts of infringement will be easily converted. With the further extent of network technology, the rights of publics and information users have been protected better. On the other hand, with the further application of the technological protection measures and the further legal protection by copyright law, the equity of copyright owners has been protected better. Thus, how to be restricted to technological protection measures, in order to achieve fair use of technological protection measures and the coordination of the system is a important problem. The United States does not recognize the "fair use" can be used for unauthorized access in the fair use system. "Fair use" is the protector of public rights in Australia. And it is restrictions against the use of the fair use of digital technology there. The protection for the technological measures of the European Union is extreme. It prohibits not only the general type of behavior to avoid any technical measures, but also on the "fair use" principles of the use of harsh restrictions imposed by the heavy. The United States does not recognize the "fair use" can be used for unauthorized access to works. Thus, This paper also will re-examine our legislation for the technological protection measures, and will analyze the imperfections and make legislative proposals.Because of the above, I will discuss the problem about protection and limitation of the technological protection measures of copyright on the basis of study of the copyright legislation in different countries such as the European Union, the United States and Australia. In practice, the abuse of technological measures does not destroy the interest balance system between the copyright owners and the public, It also brings about the impact of fair use. Finally I will analyze the current legislation in China and provides some beneficial suggestions to amend our existing anti-circumvention rules.The first part discusses the definition of technological measures of copyright. I will analyses of the "Microsoft's "black events" and put forward my own definition of copyright technological protection measures, classification, and conditions. Finally I want to say that in order to reinforce the control of works in the information era, copyright owners start to adopt technological measures to protect their own rights and make great efforts to have technological measures fall within the scope of protection by copyright law.The second part starts with introducing present situation of international legislation and analyzing the legal system of copyright technological protection measures of World Intellectual Property Organization, the European Union, the United States, Australia and China. I will analyze and study legal nature mainly from the relationship between technologically protective measures of copyright and property rights, neighboring rights.The third part discusses legal regulation research on the technologically protective measures of copyright. First it is necessary to regulate the technologically protective measures of copyright.Because it can be seen that the original idea of technological measures legislation is only to protect copyright, but it's action range has exceeded the copyright field. I will illustrate the legal conflicts caused by technological measures of copyright protection, by analyzing the conflicts the between technological measures of copyright protection and the system of fair use, public interests, first-selling principle, protection of individual privacy and freedom of expression. Finally I will mainly discuss the legitimacy of Microsoft's black events.The fourth part analyses the current legislation in China and provides some beneficial suggestions to amend our existing anti-circumvention rules.