論肖像權之民事保護—以其與新聞自由之衝突與平衡為中心

Abstract

在人格權保護與言論自由的衝突下，肖像權與新聞自由之議題備受爭議，新聞自由的桂冠下，報導內容過度氾濫，致使侵害肖像權的情形時有所聞。近年來，實務上新聞報導內容與其引用當事人照片的爭訟案件，曾數度引起社會大眾的爭議，因此筆者針對肖像權與新聞自由間的衝突關係，作為探討本議題的研究角度。透過文獻探討與案例研究方式，以期了解媒體報導內容對肖像權人之影響，並依據歷審法官對此侵權案件之裁判、試圖找出正確之新聞處理原則，及其所面臨的困境與問題。 在文獻探討部分，蒐集國內外與肖像權及新聞報導有關之研究內容，同時針對我國在新聞處理的法令規定加以說明，並依據文獻資料、研究目的及文本分析結果篩選研究案例，透過問題對談方式，對實務現象進行深入了解，最後再進一步分析文本與判決評析，整合出所有研究所得的結果，有系統的呈現實務運作中之真實現象，並提出本研究之結論與建議。 而本研究之主要研究問題—肖像權與憲法保障的新聞自由、知的權利，兩者之間的矛盾如何取得平衡？原先設定在透過資料分析後，將得以解開雙方之矛盾，緩解雙方之衝突，取得平衡點之可能，然而，在實際判決分析後，卻發現法官在判定「肖像權」與「新聞自由」間拔河的這項議題，雙方武器不平等，所受的約束亦不成比例，在面對記者採訪需求的後續動作與行為，肖像權人究應如何維護應有之人格權?在此邏輯上的弔詭情況下，法官要判斷何者符合「維護公共利益」的例外?何者為不能公開的資訊?就成為裁判新聞畫面是否侵權的盲點。本文認為，司法環境對人權的重視，亟待實務上對於新聞自由之定義形成更多具體的見解，並就肖像權之侵害是否構成民法上損害賠償的問題有更多的討論，始有可能抑制任意侵害人格權的情形，進而更重視人權的保障。

Under the conflict between the protection of personality rights and freedom of speech, the balance between portrait rights and freedom of the press is a highly controversial issue. Under the banner of freedom of the press, the content of the media coverage sometimes crossed the line and caused infringement of portrait rights. In recent years, there were several lawsuits filed against news media companies over the infringement of portrait rights which raised concerns among the public. Therefore, the current study focuses on the relationship between portrait rights and freedom of the press. This thesis utilizes literature review and case study as the main methodologies in order to understand the impact of media coverage on portrait rights holders. Decisions of judges presiding over cases involving infringement of portrait rights have been analyzed in an attempt to delineate a line, and to discover difficulties and problems facing them. In the literature review section, extensive research on portrait rights and news coverage published by both domestic and international researchers has been reviewed. At the same time, the Nations’ statutory provisions regulating news coverage are also discussed in this section. The nine cases discussed in this thesis are chosen through a process of extensive literature review and textual analysis. Then the author set forth important questions and digs into the verdicts of those cases to find answers to those questions. Furthermore, the results of all the studies are integrated and presented in a systematic fashion. In the end, conclusions and recommendations of this study are proposed. The main research question of the current study is how to strike a balance between portrait rights and freedom of press? Originally, the author thought that the answer would become obvious after thorough data analysis. However, after digging into the verdicts of each case, the author found that the judges presiding over those cases also face a dilemma between portrait rights and freedom of the press, because the two parties involved have inequitable weapons and face disproportionate constraints. In the face of the freedom of the press claimed by journalists, how could portrait right holders maintain their rightful personality rights? Facing a logical paradox, a judge may also find it difficult to determine which circumstances constitute an exception of 'maintenance of public interest', and circumstances under which the information cannot be disclosed. This thesis concludes that the judicial environment’s emphasis on human rights needs support from more verdicts which will help shape the legal definition of freedom of the press and raise discussions on whether the infringement of portrait rights constitutes civil law compensation. The author believes that only when civil law compensation for the infringement of portrait rights is made possible can we see a decrease in such cases, and human rights can thus be protected.