Directive on the legal protection of computer programs
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Directive 91/250/EEC |
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| Title: | Directive on the legal protection of computer programs |
| Made by: | European Council |
| Made under: | Art. 100a |
| Official Journal reference: | L122, 1991-05-17, pp. 9–13 |
| Dates | |
| Made: | 14 May 1991 |
| Came into force: | 17 May 1991 |
| Implementation date: | 1 January 1993 |
| Preparative texts | |
| Proposal from the Commission: | C91, 1989-04-12, p. 4 C320, 1990-12-20, p. 22 |
| Opinion of the Economic and Social Committee: | C329, 1989-12-30, p. 4 |
| Opinion of the European Parliament: | C231, 1990-09-17, p. 78 |
| Reports: | |
| Other legislation | |
| Replaces: | — |
| Amends: | — |
| Amended by: | 93/98/EEC |
| Replaced by: | — |
| Status: Current legislation | |
Council Directive 91/250/EEC of 14 May 1991 on the legal protection of computer programs is a European Union directive in the field of copyright law, made under the internal market provisions of the Treaty of Rome. It requires (Art. 1) that computer programs and any associated design material be protected under copyright as literary works within the sense of the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works.
The Directive also defines the copyright protection to be applied to computer programs: the owner of the copyright has the exclusive right to authorize (Art 4):
- the temporary or permanent copying of the program, including any copying which may be necessary to load, view or run the program;
- the translation, adaptation or other alteration to the program;
- the distribution of the program to the public by any means, including rental, subject to the first-sale doctrine.
However, these rights are subject to certain limitations (Art. 5). The legal owner of a program is assumed to have a licence to create any copies necessary to use the program and to alter the program within its intended purpose (e.g. for error correction). The lawful may also make a back-up copy for his or her personal use. The program may also be decompiled if this is necessary to ensure its operates with another program or device (Art. 6), but the results of the decompilation may not be used for any other purpose without infringing the copyright in the program.
The duration of the copyright was originally fixed at the life of the author plus fifty years (Art. 8), in accordance with the Berne Convention standard for literary works (Art. 7.1 Berne Convention). This has since been prolonged to the life of the author plus seventy years by the Directive harmonizing the term of protection of copyright and certain related rights.
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[edit] Implementation
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works
- ^ Council Directive 93/98/EEC of 29 October 1993 harmonizing the term of protection of copyright and certain related rights, OJ no. L290 of 1993-11-24, p. 9.
[edit] External links
- Original text of the directive
- Consolidated version of the directive
- Report from the Commission to the Council, the European Parliament and the Economic and Social Committee on the implementation and effects of directive 91/250/EEC on the legal protection of computer programs], 10 April 2000.
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Copyright law of the European Union |  |
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| Directives | Computer programs (91/250/EEC) • Rental & related rights (92/100/EEC) • Satellite & cable (93/83/EEC) • Duration (93/98/EEC) • Databases (96/9/EC) • Conditional access (98/84/EC) • Copyright (2001/29/EC) • Resale right (2001/84/EC) • Civil enforcement (2004/48/EC) Also: Regulation (EC) No 1383/2003 (Customs enforcement) |
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| Treaties | Berne Convention • Rome Convention • TRIPS • WCT • WPPT | |
| National laws | Austria • Belgium • Cyprus • Czech Republic • Denmark • Estonia • Finland • France • Germany • Greece • Hungary • Ireland • Italy • Latvia • Lithuania • Luxembourg • Malta • Netherlands • Poland • Portugal • Slovakia • Slovenia • Spain • Sweden • United Kingdom | |
| EEA Countries | Iceland • Liechtenstein • Norway | |
