美國千禧年著作權法反規避條款對合理使用與競爭秩序之影響

A Case Analysis of the DMCA Anti-circumvention Provisions from Aspects of Fair Use and Competition

為了加強數位著作的著作權保護與履行WIPO著作權條約會員國義務,美國國會於1998年通過數位千禧年著作權法案(the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, DMCA)。數位千禧年著作權法中一項重要規定為反規避條款,透過反規避條款之實施,任何人未經著作權人同意,以規避技術保護措施之方式接觸或利用受保護之著作內容,將產生刑事與民事責任,而提供或販賣規避工具也在禁止行為之列。雖然DMCA反規避條款提供七項例外免責之規定,由於這些例外規定涵蓋範圍遠較著作權法與判決所承認的合理使用型態來得狹窄,是否著作使用者可以依據合理使用著作之原則來正當化其規避技術保護措施之行為,成為一項學者與法院之間爭論之議題,而這也涉及到DMCA與傳統著作權法之間的定位與競合關係。除此之外,最近美國法院的兩個判決點出了反規避條款所衍生的另一個問題---對市場競爭秩序之影響。在Lexmark案中,Lexmark在控制印表機的電腦程式上加裝技術保護措施,進一步利用反規避條款之保護,阻止競爭者研發與Lexmark印表機相容之墨水匣,藉以控制其墨水匣市場,因此引發了著作權濫用與不公平競爭的相關討論。競爭法相關議題還包括DVD分區鎖碼之問題。本文希望藉由對美國反規避條款施行近六年所產生的問題之觀察,能提供我國新修正著作權法納入反規避條款在適用上所可能產生對合理使用與競爭秩序影響之再思考。In order to strengthen copyright protection against piracy in the digital environment, U.S. Congress enacted the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) in 1998. One of the important regulations included in the DMCA is the anti-circumvention provisions which prohibits the development or use of technologies that enable circumvention of a technological protection measure attached to the digital content. Any person who violates the anti-circumvention provisions by cracking technological protection measure or by providing circumvention tools will be prosecuted unless his act of circumvention falls into seven exemptions provided by the DMCA. Because these exemptions are so limited and only cover a small part of legitimate copyright uses, whether a person can circumvent a technological protection measure to access and use copyrighted materials behind based on fair use claims becomes an issue when we try to clarify the connection between anti-circumvention regulations and traditional copyright laws. Additionally, two recent DMCA cases illustrated another intrinsically unexpected effect of the anti-circumvention provisions where the non-copyrightable product providers may use the DMCA to prevent competitors from developing compatible accessories by claiming copyrights on the computer programs embedded in the products and by claiming their anti-circumvention rights on the technological protection measure attached to the computer programs. This kind of application of the DMCA may raise concerns of DMCA misuse and unfair competition.