On The Legal Attribute And The Right Attribute Of Virtual Property

With the popularity of the Internet and the emergence of a variety of software, the boundary between the "virtual" and "reality" becomes more and more fuzzy, and the transitions and legal disputes of the virtual property also become more and more frequently. In 2003, the lawsuit that Li Hongchen sued Beijibing Technology Company, is the opening stage of a fight over the attribute of the virtual property. So far, in our country, the legal attribute and the right attribute of virtual property are still in dispute.Concerning this issue, this article uses the literature research method and talks about the legal attribute and the right attribute of virtual property. In addition to the introduction and conclusion, this article is composed of three main parts.The first chapter is an overview of virtual property. First of all, this article defines the virtual property from two aspects of appearance and essence. Judged by appearance, virtual property could be divided into online game 、 account and virtualcurrency.According to essence, it has some characteristics, including vitality, software dependence, liquidity, term limitation and legal acquirement. Second, this article enumerates the relative studies of our country, such as the theory of non-property right, intellectual property rights, real rights, obligatory right, the new property rights, etc.The second chapter analyzes the legal attribute of virtual property. First of all, this chapter rules out the possibility that virtual property is a kind of intellectual property, because virtual property doesn’t have creativity. Secondly, through discussing the history of the expansion of property in civil law, this article compares virtual property with traditionalproperty in civil law, including three aspects: domination, value, specificity, and then draws a conclusion that virtual property is a special property which should be protected in civil law.The third chapter, from two aspects of real right and obligatory right, analyzes the right attribute of virtual property. First, in terms of real right, this chapter determines the ownership of virtual property according to rights of possession, the right to use, the right of usufruct and disposition. Second, in terms of obligatory right, according to the definite civil right-obligation relationship between ISP and users, the service contract between them is refined into a free software license, a safe keeping contract and a commission contract.The fourth chapter, based on the previous text, defines virtual property as a special property in civil law, and proposes sensibly that virtual property should be protected by the civil law mainly because it has two attributes including real right and obligatory right. First, aimed at the illegal phenomenon that infringes comprehensive suggestions in virtual environment, this chapter makes some concrete suggestions; Second, in view of the lack of legislation to protect virtual property in our country, this chapter also have some comprehensive suggestions to protect comprehensive suggestions, such as the drafting of civil code,the judicial interpretation of property law, the judicial interpretation of criminal law.