The Study of Copyright Liability of Internet Service Provider due to Subscribers’ Infringement

• Main Authors: Yi-Hsuan Chiu, 邱怡瑄
• Other Authors: Tu-Tsun Wang
• Format: Others
• Language: zh-TW
• Published: 2012
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/10144660848692241454

碩士 === 銘傳大學 === 法律學系碩士班 === 100 === Because of computer technology upgrading and development of the Internet, the use form of works is different from the past, especially the content of a work could be reproduced in a very short period of time, and this may threaten the rights of copyright owners. When copyright infringement occurred, because of the character of network behavior, that is difficult to confirm the identity of offenders. In order to satisfy the copyright helpfully, right holders may prefer to claim damages to Internet Service Provider (ISP). However, strictly speaking, the direct infringer are users instead of ISP who simply provides the internet services. Therefore, should ISP be liable for their users'' copyright infringement? What is the scope of its responsibilities? In Taiwan, the provisions of civil law, criminal law and copyright law can determine the responsibility of infringers who infringe copyright. While, the relevant provisions are still lots of doubt, where controversial. If the standard of network operators’ responsibility that is too loose, the rights of the copyright holder could not be protected entirely. On the contrary, it is easy to cause a chilling effect and inhibit the development of science and technology. In the U.S., Courts developed the concept of direct infringement and indirect infringement liability, and the Congress adopted the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) in 1998, by enacting safe harbor provisions of ISP. And in Taiwan, government passed the amendment of copyright law in 2009, increasing the regulations to limit ISP’s liability. For the purpose of clarifying the responsibilities of network operators, this thesis begins with defining and classifying the scope of network operators, and discusses the types of possible copyright infringement on the Internet. Next, this introduces on the practical development of the United States and Taiwan, tries to find out what are the differences between them. And then discusses some representative cases. Finally, according to the above-mentioned, the author will make a conclusion and provide some possible suggestions.