透视中国“版权蟑螂”——基于涉视觉中国两家公司3965份判决书的分析  

A Perspective on China’s“Copyright Trolls”:An Empirical Study Based on 3,965 Judgements Involving Two Companies Associated with Visual China

作　　者：陈杭平[1] 胡家涵 Chen Hangping;Hu Jiahan

机构地区：[1]清华大学法学院,北京100084

出　　处：《湖湘法学评论》2024年第4期28-42,共15页Huxiang Law Revie

摘　　要：版权蟑螂以诉讼为中心构建商业模式,通过诉讼实现“创收”(获得损害赔偿金)或者“揽客”(将被告转为签约客户)。基于对涉视觉中国两家公司的3965份判决书样本的分析,可以发现其只选择商事主体作为被告,集中向广东、天津、北京三省市法院提起诉讼;程式化的诉讼工具包括出具图片公司授权书、有水印的图片,加盖可信时间戳,指向著作权侵权法定赔偿方法;提出的诉请金额可获得20%左右的支持率,单张图片平均可获得2000元左右的赔偿金。从法经济学视角透析版权蟑螂,其提起诉讼并不促进版权市场的发展,而是具有负外部性,且加剧了法院案多人少矛盾。对于版权蟑螂提起的诉讼,应当从诉讼收费、法定赔偿标准、事实解明度(举证充分性)等方面加以规制。Copyright Trolls establish their business model around litigation,utilizing lawsuits as a central mechanism to achieve either“revenue-generation”(obtaining damages)or“client-acquisition”(transforming defendants into contracted clients).Based on an analysis of 3965 sample judgments involving two entities affiliated with Visual China Group,it becomes evident that their litigation targets primarily commercial entities as defendants,with a concentrated focus on courts situated in the provinces of Guangdong,Tianjin,and Beijing.They employ standardized litigation tools encompassing submission of authorization documents,watermarked images and reliable timestamps,referring to statutory damages for infringement.As a result,their claims for damages have had a success rate of about 20%,with an average compensation of around 2,000 yuan per image.Through a law and economics analysis,we argue that the business model and behavior of the Copyright Trolls are counterproductive to promoting the development of the copyright market and have negative externalities.We recommend regulations on litigation fees,statutory compensation standards,and evidentiary standards(adequacy of proof)to address the litigation practices of the Copyright Trolls.

关 键 词：版权蟑螂 诉讼创收 诉讼揽客 法定赔偿 案多人少 

分 类 号：D925.1[政治法律—诉讼法学]