저작권법상 공중의 개념에 관한 소고 - 지존의 논의에 대한 비판적 검토를 겸하여 -

Abstract

Recently the definition of the public in the copyright law has been provided. The term of 'the public' in the copyright law is used in the connections of many separate copyrights, for example, the right of publication, the right of communication to the public, etc. In general, the concept of 'the public' is shaping the separate copyrights and limiting the range of the separate copyrights as well. Introduction of the definition of 'the public' can be meaningful in the aspect that it has brought a settlement of the long argument in the literature. It has, however, brought another issues, and such definition itself has a logical fault. Even before the provision was made, a number of courts' decisions had clarified the meaning of the public as very similar way as newly defined in the copyright law. Furthermore, the present definition may be conflicted with other provisions, like the provision of exception of private copy. In the US the decision of the public is the matter of 'public place' while in Germany the relation of each member of multitude matters. If defining of the public is not necessary, the provision of the definition should be removed as before. Otherwise, the provision of definition should provide some standards of decision, which can be 'public place', 'relation of each member of multitude'.