Slides

Teaching aim

The aim of this lecture/seminar is to teach you the basics of the EU copyright law regulatory system of computer programmes. After going through this lecture/seminar you should be able to:

• what are the basic features of the EU software protection where they are regulated
• what is and what is not actually protected
• what are the limits of this protection
• how does the CJEU treat computer programs

Required reading - legal regulation

In order to make the most of our time together, please get yourself acquainted with the:

Directive 2009/24/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 April 2009 on the legal protection of computer programs, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/dir/2009/24/oj

Brief summary thereof is also available.

General discussion - questions

• What are the different means of protection of software?
• What form/s of software is protected by copyright in the EU?
• How is the functionality of software protected by copyright in the EU?
• Is the graphical user interface protected by copyright as software under the Directive 2009/24/EC on the legal protection of computer programs?
• What are the exceptions under the Directive 2009/24/EC on the legal protection of computer programs?

Case law

(NOTE: the highlighted cases were discussed during the class)

C-393/09 Bezpečnostní softwarová asociace - protection of GUI

C-406/10 SAS v WPL - protection of functionality

C-128/11 UsedSoft - exhaustion of rights

C-166/15 - Ranks a Vasiļevičs - resale of ‘used’ licensed copies of computer programs on non-original material media 

C-666/18 SAS v Free Mobile SAS - contract vs. copyright

C-355/12 - Nintendo and Others - video games protection

C-13/20 - Top System - decompilation

Questions on case law

1. Is the GUI of a computer programme protected as a computer programme?
2. Are manuals for computer programmes protected as a computer programme?
3. Under which conditions does the right of distribution to computer programme exhaust?
4. Does a breach of a license agreement also constitute an intellectual property infringement?
5. Are video games protected as a computer programme?
6. What are the preconditions for decompilation?

Optional reading

SHAEFFER, JOHN. Software as Text. Santa Clara High Technology Law Journal [online]. 2017, roč. 33, č. 3, s. 324. ISSN 0882-3383. Available from: https://digitalcommons.law.scu.edu/chtlj/vol33/iss3/

TRIMBLE, Marketa, A Quarter Century of International Copyright on Software (February 11, 2020). Texas International Law Journal, Vol. 55. Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3536056