Discussion On The Copyright Indirect Infringement Responsibility Of Video Sharing Website

Since You Tube, a video sharing website, was established in2005, only in severalyears there was a great development of the video sharing websites which have been animportant part of the network services. The quantity of cases, new situations and newproblems about video sharing websites increases continuously. The video sharingwebsites were such websites which serve the space for content storage and publishingplatforms for users to upload, watch online and download video files. The36articleof the Tort Law of China which was published on July1,2010clearly distinguishedthe direct infringement responsibility and the indirect infringement responsibility ofthe network service suppliers. As one of the network service suppliers, video sharingwebsites play an important role in maintaining the normal operation and thedevelopment of the internet. However, because of the particularity and the visualcharacters of the network information communication, the copyright infringement onthe network is more complicated than the traditional copyright infringement. How toclearly define that is not a easy job. If the disputations are solved improperly, thebenefit of video sharing websites will not be protected and the internet will not have ahealthy development. Therefore, it is necessary to have a discussion on the copyrightinfringement of the video sharing websites and especially on the indirect copyrightinfringement. Under the direction of the theory of copyright infringement and basedon the related legislations and judicial cases, this paper is aimed for the study on thecopyright infringement of video sharing websites. This paper focused on theconnection problems in the utilization of the special laws on the protection of therights of the network information communication in China and the Tort Law. Bases onthe characters of the network infringing activities, the actual difficulties of those whohave been infringed and the inherent requirements of the new network business model,this paper will properly comprehend the indirect copyright infringement responsibilityand complete the legal system of the indirect copyright infringement responsibility ofvideo sharing websites in China. This paper had4parts. The first part was thesummary of video sharing websites where the concept, technical characters and business model of video sharing websites were introduced. The second part was thetheoretical fundamental of the legal system of the indirect copyright infringement ofvideo sharing websites where the related network copyright, indirect copyrightinfringement and the principles of liabilities were introduced. The third part was thedifficulties when solving the indirect copyright infringement of video sharingwebsites and foreign judicial references where the safe haven principle adopted byU.S. copyright law was introduced. The fourth part is the legislation situation andoutlet of the copyright infringement responsibility of video sharing websites in Chinawhere the legislation situation was analyzed and the disadvantages were found. Basedon the former study, finally the exemptions which should be obtained by the networksupplier during the indirect copyright infringement of video sharing websites in Chinaand the idea for establishing the safe haven principle in China were proposed.