Research On Copyright Filtering Obligations Of UGC Video Platforms

The US first provided for the "safe harbour" rule in the Digital Millennium Copyright Act in 1998,and China borrowed it from the Regulation on the Protection of Rights in Information Network Dissemination in 2006 to form the "notice-and-delete" rule,which was reasonable for the time being for The allocation of copyright protection obligations was reasonable at the time.However,with the development of technology and changes in the industry,online copyright infringement methods have become diverse and the number of infringing acts has increased exponentially,a phenomenon typical of UGC(User Generated Content)video platforms.This phenomenon is typical of UGC(User Generated Content)video platforms,where the "notice-and-delete" rule no longer balances the interests of both copyright owners and UGC video platforms.Based on the above,the study will focus on the copyright filtering obligation of UGC video platforms,demonstrate the necessity,feasibility and reasonableness of establishing such an obligation,draw on the relevant experience of copyright protection of overseas online platforms,and put forward relevant proposals for the establishment of copyright filtering obligation of UGC video platforms.The main text is divided into four parts,the main points of which are as follows.In the first part,an overview of the copyright filtering obligations of UGC video platforms is provided.Firstly,the meaning and nature of the copyright filtering obligations of UGC video platforms are defined.Second,the limitations of the "notice-to-delete" rule in the management of video infringement and the current development of copyright filtering technology are introduced.In the second part,the necessity,feasibility and reasonableness of establishing a copyright filtering obligation for UGC video platforms are argued.First,in terms of necessity,the large transaction costs make it difficult for platforms and copyright owners to reach universal voluntary cooperation,while administrative regulation already imposes substantial requirements on platforms to perform copyright filtering.Secondly,in terms of feasibility,copyright filtering technology is now mature and the technology is portable,while platforms’ access to content voluntarily uploaded by users would not infringe on users’ privacy.Thirdly,in terms of reasonableness,the creation of such an obligation is conducive to facilitating the licensing of works,and it is also consistent with the social cost containment theory,which is conducive to improving the overall efficiency of society.In the third part,the legislative trends of the copyright protection obligations of extra-territorial online platforms are examined.It mainly examines the legislative trends of the EU,Germany and the US in terms of the copyright protection obligations of online platforms and proposes inspirations for China.In the fourth part,suggestions are made for the establishment of copyright filtering obligations for UGC video platforms in China.It is elaborated from three aspects,including legislative proposals,main contents and supporting systems.In terms of legislative proposals,it is suggested that the "application-filtering" model be adopted by combining public and private law approaches,and that its relationship with the "notice-removal" rule be clarified as parallel.In terms of operational rules,the subject,scope and criteria for the application of this obligation should be clarified.In terms of the supporting system,the responsibility of the platform for violating this obligation should be clarified,and it is also recommended that a channel of redress for complaints be established and supplemented by a manual review and correction mechanism,so as to protect the legitimate rights and interests of platform users to the greatest extent possible.