음악 스트리밍 서비스의 이용은 복제권 침해인가

Is the use of a music streaming service an infringement of the right of reproduction?

The purpose of this study is to examine whether: (1) the use of a music streaming service corresponds to "reproduction" under the Korean Copyright Law (2) such use corresponds to a temporary reproduction even if not a complete reproduction (3) as a result of (1) and (2), public users infringe the right of reproduction of music copyright holders through such use. The study was carried out asfollows; 1. It analyzed the meaning of streaming service by examining the concept, nature, structure, and support protocol of music streaming service. 2. It studied whether the storage in a hard disk or RAM that accompanies the use of music streaming service corresponds to a "reproduction" under the Korean Copyright Law in a technical point of view. 3. Because there is a debate about whether the use of a music streaming service can be regarded as a temporary reproduction, this study examined the concept of temporary reproduction, and whether it may be accepted. 4. This study thenexamined whether public users can use a music streaming service freely for private use without the approval of music copyright holders, even if the use of the music streaming service is regarded as a temporary reproduction. This study reached the following conclusions: 1. Temporary reproduction does occur in a hard disk or RAM by the use of a music streaming service. But the use of a music streaming service itself cannot be regarded as a reproduction because it does not fix any data at all. 2. Even if a concept of temporary reproduction is accepted, the use of a music streaming service merely corresponds to a "private use" under Article 27 of the Korean Copyright Law, which is an exemption from illegality. 3. Claims against the use of a music streaming service based on "temporary reproduction" could be limited by the 'abuse of rights doctrine' in the Korean Civil Code.