数字化环境下中国版权合理使用的保护与规制

Abstract

In the digital age, the deep integration of media is significantly enhancing the efficiency and quality of work dissemination, but it also complicates the application of copyright fair use rules. The legal nature of copyright's fair use serves the purpose of systematic encapsulation and is closely related to the evolutionary stages of copyright protection. China should adopt the theory of right limitation, grounded in the civil law principle of prohibiting the abuse of rights. This principle represents a legal capability rather than a right, and constitutes a lawful act. Article 24 of the Chinese Copyright Law incorporates the provisions of the “three-step test” from international treaties that China has ratified, and applies these domestically. The “three-step test” should be cumulatively applied to the specific situations enumerated in this article, serving as the identification criterion for fair use. The latter two steps of the “three-step test” further restrict specific circumstances. Given the capability nature of fair use, exclusion of fair use contract terms should be classified as a bilateral legal act without consideration. Even if such terms reflect the true intentions of both parties, the autonomy interests contained therein are insufficient to counterbalance the societal public interest protected by fair use. It is advisable to negate the validity of such clauses in both legislative and interpretative contexts.