应对实施盗版的侵权者加重刑事处罚并进行惩罚性赔偿

撰写者：胡其鸣，马晓刚（浩天律师事务所合伙人，《著作权法》起草人之一）

是否有力地打击盗版行为，关系到中国是否有良好的创意产业环境。目前中国的盗版现象依然非常严重，这使中国的创意产业每年至少损失上千亿元人民币。

造成打击盗版成效不明显的主要原因就是我们对盗版者的惩罚太轻，达不到“惩戒”目的。
在民事赔偿方面，目前对盗版者造成损失的计算过于机械，往往局限于其“造成直接经济损失”的“填平”计算误圈，而不考虑惩罚性赔偿。比如，对贩卖盗版光碟者造成的损失是按其贩卖盗版碟数的非法获利额直接计算，而不考虑因其盗版行为给权利人造成的更大的间接损失。对网上提供非法下载内容的侵权者给权利人造成的损失更是无法有效计算。因此，只考虑直接损失使最终的判赔额都非常少，根本不能弥补权利人受到的损害。

在行政处罚方面，上述的计算方法也导致处罚力度不够，以至于出现盗版者在“自愿”上缴罚款后，继续从事盗版行业，继续危害社会的现象。

在刑事处罚方面，虽然已有相应的法律条款和司法解释，但同样存在认定犯罪的标准过高、刑罚力度不够的问题。使盗版者不能因从事盗版犯罪行为而受到严惩，使其他盗版者和企图盗版者没有受到应有的法律威慑，致使中国的创意环境不能得到良好的保护。

根据大量的调查和国际上有效治理盗版现象国家的经验，对盗版者加重处罚是行之有效的手段。对盗版者不仅要通过“民事诉讼”使其进行填平的经济补偿，而且要进行“惩罚性赔偿”；同时还要加大刑罚和行政处罚力度，降低定罪门槛。司法机关和行政管理机关要切实制定出严厉打击盗版行为的措施。

加强对盗版者的惩罚力度，不仅能有效地遏止盗版现象在中国的泛滥，而且可以大大促进中国文化事业的蓬勃发展。

Criminal Punishment and Significant Punitive Damage Compensation shall be applied to Anti-Piracy act.
Jimmy Wu, Ma Xiaogang

Piracy is a serious threat to China’s entertainment and media creativity.  At present, piracy remains widespread in the China market, with billions lost annually to owners and distributors of legitimate content.

A major reason for the lack of significant progress in the anti-piracy campaign in China is insufficient deterrence.
On the civil liability side, calculation of compensation is currently limited to “direct economic losses” resulting from the piracy.  This means pure restitution without any punitive element.
For example, losses incurred through optical disc (i.e. CD/VCD/DVD) piracy are calculated according to direct revenue from the illegal sale, without taking into consideration indirect or consequential damage to the legal owner.
This method of damage calculation is even more insufficient when applied to online piracy. 
As for administrative fines currently imposed in piracy cases, they are currently calculated on similar basis and have had very limited impact on piracy. Offender simply treat such fines as a cost of doing business and continue their criminal practices.

On the criminal punishment side, although there laws and regulations governing piracy offenses do exist, it is often difficult for plaintiffs to establish all of the requisite criminal elements required for the crime, and many laws and regulations do not impose sufficient criminal penalties.

Based on a large amount of study and significant anti-piracy experience gained in other international markets, any effective anti-piracy measure must insist upon sufficient deterrence and punishment. Civil liability must include punitive damage as well as sufficient compensatory damage, while administrative and criminal punishment should reduce difficulties for the aggrieved party in demonstrating infringement and must impose penalties in proportion to the crime’s serious effect on the economy and society to create meaningful deterrence.

China’s cultural industries will not thrive without an effective anti-piracy policy, of which a meaningful deterrence system is a critical element.