| Summary: | 碩士 === 世新大學 === 法律學研究所(含碩專班) === 105 === Penology is the strictest means of last resort in the protection of the rights and benefits of a state under law. In Taiwan, the necessity of the application of criminal penalty for the punishment of copyright infringement is highly controversial. This dissertation attempts to explore the legislation and amendment to the Copyright Act of the Republic of China over the years and study the impact of Article 61 of the Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property rights (TRIPs) and US copyright law on the revolution of Copyright Act of the Republic of China. Apparently, the legislation for the protection of copyright in the Republic of China is deeply influenced by the USA foreign trade policy for anti-counterfeiting; thereby criminal penalty for punishing of copyright infringement becomes prevalent and common and far exceeds the scope under Article 61 of TRIPs.
In the study on the criminal penalty of copyright infringement, this study analyzes the statistic figures furnished by the Taiwanese Ministry of Justice for the assessment of cost and benefit. In addition, this study weights the facts of necessity of decriminalization under the principle of modesty in criminal law, the legality of crimes, and reasonable. Finally, this study deduces a conclusion of decriminalization of copyright infringement.
The purpose of the legislation of the Copyright Act is the protection of the right of the copyright owner and also balances public interest of the society so that the public are encouraged to publish their works in public that contributed to cultural development. For this reason, the protection of the copyright owner is just a means, and the ultimate purpose is the encouragement of cultural development. As such, excessive protection by criminal penalty should be avoided to prevent the preclusion and suppression of cultural development.
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