你不知道我是谁（著作权法、互联网）

你不知道我是谁（著作权法、互联网）1：第一案

 

李东涛

 

1999年4月28日，第一起与互联网有关的著作权侵权案在京宣判。作为该案的审判长，通过分析具体的案情和法律难题，本人在这里试图说明：尽管存在着这样或那样的批评与怀疑，现有的著作权法理论还是可以发挥其作用的。

 

You Don’t Know Me（copyright law/Internet）I：The First Case

 

Li Dongtao

 

On April 28, 1999, the first Internet-related case of copyright infringement was decided in Beijing. After giving the concrete facts and necessary analysis, as the chief judge of this case, here I want to say that though there are some criticisms and worries, existing copyright theory still seems to work well.

 

你不知道我是谁（著作权法、互联网）2：案情

 

李东涛

原告陈卫华是北京一电子公司的经理。

被告是成都电脑商情报社，在国内出版发行《电脑商情报》。

＂3D芝麻街＂为国际互联网上一个人主页的版主,署名为＂无方＂。

该主页于1998年1月开始上载文件，内容主要为有关三维动画设计的文章。

1998年5月10日一篇题为《戏说MAYA》的文章被上载到该主页上，作者署名为＂无方＂。

1998年10月16日，电脑商情报社在其主办的《电脑商情报》上刊登《戏说MAYA》一文，文章署名为＂无方＂，该报在刊登此文的同时加注了编者按，称＂本文的出处也如同文中的3D发源一样不详……

 

You Don’t Know Me（copyright law/Internet）II: The Facts

 

Li Dongtao

 

The plaintiff is Weihua Chen, a manager of an electronic company.

The defendant is Chengdu Computer Business Information Weekly, a newspaper published nationwide.

3D Sesame Street was the name of a personal homepage online, with its owner identified as Wu Fang. From January 1998, articles (mainly on 3D) had been uploaded onto this personal homepage.

On May 10, 1998, an article Talking about Maya Dramatically was uploaded onto this personal homepage with the author’s name given as Wu Fang. A copyright notice “All Rights Reserved” was attached to the article online.

On October 16, 1998, the defendant reprinted this article in his newspaper Computer Business Information Weekly, and the author was identified as Wu Fang. Meanwhile, the defendant also added an editor’s statement in which the editor said that the origin of the article was mysterious just like the origin of 3D…

 

你不知道我是谁（著作权法、互联网）3： 庭审

 

李东涛

 

原告状告被告著作权侵权。

被告以没有主观过错为由辩称否认侵权，并且要求原告证明自己的作者身份。

在庭审过程中，原告证明他可以修改涉案个人主页的密码，同时可以上传和删除文件。鉴于此，被告承认原告的作者身份。

法院判决被告侵权成立, 因为被告转载原告的文章未经许可。

 

You Don’t Know Me（copyright law/Internet）III: The Court Hearing

 

Li Dongtao

 

The plaintiff sued the defendant for copyright infringement.

The defendant argued that the copyright infringement was not established because there wasn’t a subjective fault and the plaintiff should prove his authorship first.

In the court hearing, the plaintiff demonstrated that he could modify the password of the personal homepage as well as upload and delete files.

Then the defendant admitted the plaintiff was the author.

The court held that the copyright infringement was established because the defendant reprinted the plaintiff’s article without his permission.

 

你不知道我是谁（著作权法、互联网）4：作者

 

李东涛

 

通常情况下，作者将自己的名字标在自己的作品上是一种直接有效证明自己身份的方式。

通常在国际互联网上建立个人主页是免费的,自由的，只要按服务商（ISP）的要求填写固定的表格即可。除电子信箱外，其余内容均可以虚拟。

这就是所谓的“在国际互联网上没有人知道你是一条狗"。¹

此后，ISP的服务器将会自动发给用户一封包含个人主页的帐号和密码的电子邮件，用户据此可以自由使用这个个人主页。

个人主页注册的虚拟性可以保证注册人的合法权利（如个人隐私等）免遭他人的侵害，

但同时也给注册人带来诉讼上的麻烦。特别是在没有原始注册资料的情况下

在本案中，法院认定原告就是“无方"基于两个事实：

        第一、原告可以修改该个人主页的密码并可以上载文件、删除文件；

        第二、被告承认原告是作者。

        假设被告坚持不承认原告是“无方”，比如，声称原告是黑客，该怎么办？

        被告应首先举证证明原告是黑客，我认为。

 

 

 

You Don’t Know Me（copyright law/Internet）IV: Author

 

Li Dongtao

 

Generally, keeping his name clearly connected with his work is a direct and effective way for an author to show his authorship.

Registration of a personal homepage online is easy and free:

It is only necessary to fill out a simple form that asks for the user’s name, sex, address, telephone number and email address, etc.; except for the email address, the other information could be fictitious.

That’s the so-called “On the Internet, nobody knows you’re a dog”.

Afterwards, the user will receive an email containing password and account designation automatically sent from the ISP system and then could use this homepage freely.

Registration of a personal homepage under a fictitious name could protect the user’s legal rights, such as his right to privacy, from intrusion.

Meanwhile, it also brings a legal problem for the user, especially when registration papers that might be used to prove authorship are unreliable.

In this case, the court held the plaintiff was “Wu Fang”, the author, for two reasons:

a.       The plaintiff could modify the password of the personal homepage as well as upload and delete files.

b.       The defendant admitted the plaintiff was the author.

However, if the defendant had insisted on disagreeing about whether the plaintiff really was “Wu Fang”, for example, he might be a hacker. 

The defendant should have brought the evidence to prove the plaintiff was a hacker first, I think. 

 

 

你不知道我是谁（著作权法、互联网）5：赔偿

李东涛

 

原告请求判令电脑商情报社支付稿费231元和惩罚性稿费50000元。

但原告并未就惩罚性稿费问题举证。

本案判决被告赔偿原告924元（应付稿酬的4倍）。

宣判后, 原、被告均服从判决,未上诉。

 

You Don’t Know Me（copyright law/Internet）V: Damage

Li Dongtao

 

In this case, the Plaintiff asked the defendant to pay him remuneration RMB231 Yuan and punitive remuneration RMB 50,000 yuan.

But without any evidence about punitive damage.

The court held the defendant to pay the plaintiff RMB 924 yuan, four times of the remuneration.

After the verdict, no party appealed.

 

 

你不知道我是谁（著作权法、互联网）6 命运

 

李东涛

 

26年前，一个传统纸媒需要从互联网上转载稿件并成为著作权侵权人。

这说明什么？

自媒体的崛起和传统媒体的衰落。

我在淹水，每个人都在附近但却没有人听到。2

悲哀，非常悲哀。

 

You Don’t Know Me（copyright law/Internet）VI: Fate

 

Li Dongtao

 

26 years ago, a traditional newspaper had to reprint an article from Internet and became copyright infringer.

What did it mean?

The rise of Self-media and the decline of traditional media.

I’m drowning, everyone near yet no one can hear²

Sad, very sad.