论著作权法中作品独创性的判断方法
作者简介:万勇,中国人民大学法学院教授(北京 100872);李亚兰,中国人民大学法学院博士研究生(北京100872)。
基金项目:
本文系国家社会科学一般项目:“民法典网络侵权制度在知识产权领域实施的疑难问题研究”(21BFX020)的阶段性成果
摘要: 无论是基于“可区别的变化”规则、现代知识产权法从劳动转向对象的特定历史叙事、创作行为的事实行为属性,还是基于后现代哲学“作者已死”理论,都无法推导出“独创性判断与创作过程无关”的结论。若主张“创作过程无意义”,将无法解释权利共存、独立创作、著作权法的人文观等诸多方面。独创性判断之所以依赖于对创作过程的考察,是因为其需要证立创作者与作品之间的排他性关系,这又进一步源于法律本身的关系性。结果的差异性只是一种提高法律推理效率的通常性假定,未必表征独创性。在哲学维度上,过程与结果属于划分而非分类(对立),不应将之视为二分法。在创作过程中,主体提供意志,意志支配行为,行为实现结果,三者结合为主体的选择。具体判断时,应先根据创作过程对表达进行归类,这种归类应比法定作品类型更细致,再以同类作品的通常创作过程为标准,判断其是否存在取舍空间,而后判断创作行为与创作意志是否足以表明存在特定关系。独创性判断活动最终要实现的,是主体身份的特定化,而不仅是对象本身的特定化。
On the Method of Determining Originality of Works in Copyright Law
Abstract: It cannot be concluded from the rule of distinguishable variations, the specific historical narrative that the focus of modern intellectual property law has shifted from labor to the object, the factual act nature of creation actions, and the postmodern philosophy that the author is dead, that the originality of works is not related to the creative process. The meaninglessness of the creative process does not explain the coexistence of rights, independent creation, the overall humanistic view of copyright law and so on. In the creation process, the subject provides the will, the will governs the behavior, the behavior achieves the result, and the combination of the three is the choice. The reason why originality judgments rely on an examination of the creative process is that they require to establish an exclusive relationship between the creator and the work. Denying stopping at the creation results further stems from the relational nature of the law itself. The difference-in-results argument is merely a commonplace assumption that enhances the efficiency of legal reasoning, and the existence of distinguishable differences does not mean that there is originality. Philosophically, process and result are also not a dichotomy, but a division. When making specific judgments, expressions should first be categorized according to the creative process in a more detailed manner than the statutory types of works, and whether there is room for trade-offs should be judged by the usual creative process of similar works. Later, it should be judged whether the act of creation and the will to create are sufficient to indicate the specific relationship. What is ultimately to be realized in the activity of judging originality is the particularization of the identity of the subject, not only the particularization of the object.