網路服務業者之侵權責任－以著作權侵權為中心

Abstract

當網路使用者利用網路服務業者所提供的網路服務侵害他人權益時，網路服務業者是否應負責一直是個爭議的問題，由於網路服務業者本身並未從事侵權行為，要求其負責應有正當性，美國法是以侵權代位責任及參與侵權責任來規範，美國國會並於1998年通過數位千禧年著作權法案（DMCA）以規定安全港條款的方式提供網路服務業者配合阻止著作權侵權行為的誘因。此外，P2P相關判決如美國的Grokster案及國內的Kuro案、ezPeer案皆引發諸多討論，而Sony案之「實質非侵權用途」原則及Grokster案的誘導原則究該如何解釋適用亦無定論。本文的目的即在於釐清網路服務業者的相關責任，以做為我國將來立法之參考。 首先，本文將針對常見的各種網路服務介紹並進行類型化分析，以了解各類網路服務的特性；其次，將探究在網路服務業者未從事侵權行為的情形下可能須負擔何種責任其及正當性；接下來再深入探討美國相關案例及DMCA中的安全港條款，最後則回歸到我國法，比較我國法與美國法關於間接侵權責任的規定，並以訪談的方式了解國內業者面對網路著作權侵權的處理方式，再針對立法委員所提相關著作權法修正草案進行評析。

It has been a controversial issue whether Internet Service Providers (ISPs) should be liable for their subscribers’ copyright infringement. Because ISPs don’t directly commit copyright infringement, there must be justification to impose liability on them. In American law, ISPs may be liable for their subscribers’ infringement based on vicarious liability and contributory liability, and the Congress passed DMCA to encourage ISPs to cooperate with content providers to stop copyright infringement by enacting several safe harbors. Besides, the judgments about the liability of providing peer to peer file sharing network service, like Grokster, Kuro and ezPeer give rise to a lot of discussion, and the explanation of Sony doctrine and Grokster’s inducement theory also leave unresolved. The purpose of this thesis is to make clear the ISP’s liability for the subscribers’ copyright infringement, and to provide some reference for Taiwan to enact law. This thesis begins with introducing some common Internet services and tries to classify them according to their characteristics. Then the basis and justification of ISP’s liability are explored. Next, this thesis analyzes the U.S. ISP liability cases and discusses the DMCA. In the last part, this thesis reviews Taiwan tort law, Kuro case and ezPeer case. In addition, a survey through interviews was carried out to find out the current reaction of Taiwan ISPs facing the subscribers’ copyright infringement. Finally, two drafts of the amendment to Taiwan copyright law are reviewed.