Newsletter
Main Points of Draft Amendments to the Copyright Act
To react to work exploitation in the era of digital convergence and cloud technology, to regulate fair use regulations, to meet rights reconciliation, and to prefect copyright regulations, the Intellectual Property Office ("IPO") announcedon 30 January 2020 the draft amendments to the Copyright Act. The main points of the draft amendment are below:
I. Adjust the definitions of "public broadcast" and "public transmission", and add "the right of simultaneous further broadcasting and transmitting to the public"
(1) After this amendment, either broadcast via general TV stations or broadcast via online streaming on network platforms is treated an act of public broadcast; in other words, the network technology will no longer serve as a means of classification. Also, the right of public transmission is limited to an act of interactive transmission and exploitation.
(2) The amendments add the right of simultaneous further broadcasting and transmitting to the public. For instance, playing a film via the Internet and screen equipment at a place of business must first obtain consent or authorization from the relevant copyright owner.
II. Review the justifiability of provisions governing copyright ownership
(1) In the amendments, an employer and an employee may agree to the ownership of the economic rights to a work by a contract which will be more in line with the spirit of freedom of contract and be more flexible between the employer and the employee.
(2) Revising the legal relationship between a commissioning party and a commissioned party, by which a commissioning party, regardless of a natural person or legal person, may serve as the author of a work pursuant to a contract agreed by them to meet with the practice.
III. Amend the limitations on the economic rights to a work
(1) Adding school's distance learning as a fair use in order to expand teaching effect.
(2) Adding provisions stipulating that subject to certain restrictions, collection institutions, such as libraries, may allow readers to browse online in the institutions.
(3) Any regular non-profit activity may exploit relevant works after use remuneration therefor has been duly paid. As for the issue on people who play music with their own equipment for some activities such as dancing in a park, the amendments additionally provide that no authorization or payment is required.
IV. Amend provisions governing compensation for damages
(1) In order to solve the issue on the burden of proof for damages, after the amendment, the injured party may choose to directly request the court to set, based on the circumstances of infringement, a compensation at an amount of not less than NT$10,000 and not more than NT$1,000,000.
(2) Adding an option for the injured party who may choose to calculate damages based on the royalty as received.
V. Amend out-of-date provisions regarding criminal liability
(1) The amendments delete the 6-month minimum sentence, thus allowing courts to examine cases on a case-by-case basis to avoid minor cases facing excessive criminal liability.
(2) Amending that any unauthorized sale of genuine products imported from abroad in the domestic market only involves civil liability, no criminal liability will be imposed on such act.
(3) Amending that any unauthorized distribution of genuine products should be resolved through civil remedies.