BitTorrent의 저작권법상 책임에 관한 고찰 －OSP 책임을 중심으로－

Abstract

AThis paper investigates what is the definition of the BitTorrent, how to serves by certain compositions and determines the liability of several users in the copyright law. In other words, BitTorrent is both the protocol and the program which was made to observe this protocol at the same time. Although this program is also based on the P2P technology, it is distinct from the existing P2P technology that shares the copyrighted works directly and permits to share files contained the information of the copyrighted works under the name of ‘.torrent’. For this reason, the particular space must create to share .torrent files through the separate program and the webpage where doesn’t search the copyrighted works directly. This feature makes to break the premises that program providers earn a profit by the relevant program. Namely, it has structured this mechanism that program providers don’t make a profit based on the copyrighted works of others but system operators to administrate the website sharing the .torrent files through the specific program of BitTorrent client earn a profit. According to this phenomenon, sharing the .torrent makes to raise complicated issues whether to obtain the scope of the copyright infringement or not and the liability issues of the seeder to create the first file and the available person to download and then to upload newly. In addition, the change of sharing file structures by the BitTorrent restructures from the trilateral composition related to the liability of the direct infringers, the OSP and the copyright owners to the quadriliteral composition related to the liability of the direct infringers, the providers of BitTorrent client, website administrators and the copyright owners and it has become more complicated. And our copyright law regulates that the OSP to obtain commercial benefits by the P2P defines to the particular type of the OSP. So the treatment of BitTorrent deals with the existing OSP based on the P2P differently because it exists to the particular type to provide the specific program without the commercial benefit. As far as here to take the circumstances into this structural feature, the legal nature of the .torrent files is similar to the link’s and this paper examines the liability related the provided program and the OSP’s liability by operating a website.