디지털콘텐츠 공급계약에 대한 철회권 - 독일 및 유럽법상의 논의를 중심으로 -

Abstract

Concerning digital content, the “right of withdrawal, etc.” from E-Commerce Act in Korea may be compared with the right to withdraw from the Consumer Rights Directive in EU or the right to terminate the contract from the Digital Content Directive in EU. This is because the E-Commerce Act in Korea includes the right to withdraw and terminate through the expression “right of withdrawal, etc.”. In particular, the latter right is adventageous to the consumer in the matter of the period of right and the cost burden. This legislative approach, however, is likely to confuse concept. On the other hand, the E-Commerce Act needs a uniform discipline for digital content. The application of different laws according to the type of digital contents can lead to differentiation of legal approach and impair legal stability in the end. In particular, there seems to be a need for uniform discipline regarding the requirement to exclude withdrawal rights in digital content supply contracts. Specifically, the right to withdraw should be excluded if the seal of digital content is damaged or if the user agrees to exclude the withdrawal right in order to use the digital content. Before this, however, notice should be made clear and not misleading about the exclusion of the right to withdraw. Also, if digital content is not provided through tangible media such as streaming, it should be considered that the withdrawal right can be exercised when the consumer is offered the possibility to try the digital content online. Only in this case can the consumer agree to fulfill the contract through trial use, and accept the exclusion of the right to withdraw. Besides, in the case of digital contents, consumers who have excercised the right to withdraw can continue to use the digital contents free of charge without deleting them. Therefore, in addition to consumer protection, contents provider protection needs to be considered.