Directive 91/250 / EEC (Computer Program Directive)
 Directive 91/250 / EEC |
|
|---|---|
| Title: | Council Directive 91/250 / EEC of 14 May 1991 on the legal protection of computer programs |
| Designation: (not official) |
Computer Programs Directive |
| Scope: | EU |
| Legal matter: | Copyright , related rights |
| Basis: | Article 100a of the EEC Treaty |
| Come into effect: | May 16, 1991 |
|
To be implemented in national law by: |
January 1, 1993 |
| Implemented by: |
Germany Second law amending copyright law |
| Replaced by: | Directive 2009/24 / EC |
| Expiry: | May 24, 2009 |
| Reference: | OJ L 122 of May 17, 1991, pp. 42-46 |
| Full text |
Consolidated version (not official) basic version |
| Regulation has expired. | |
| Please note the information on the current version of legal acts of the European Union ! | |
The Directive 91/250 / EEC (computer program) Directive, regulated until the adoption of Directive 2009/24 / EC protection of computer programs and the considerable expenses associated human, technical and financial and investment because not until the adoption of this Directive There was clear legal protection for computer programs in all EU member states .
Purpose of the policy
RL 91/250 / EEC was intended to create a uniform legal framework in the European Economic Community (EEC, now European Union ). This guideline forms a further legislative harmonization step within the framework of the EEC and with regard to a uniform European copyright law and the related property rights.
All EU copyright directives basically serve to protect authors and to dismantle trade barriers and distortions of competition with regard to copyright, the related property rights and the free exchange of knowledge and innovation in the European internal market . With regard to Directive 91/250 / EEC, there was an additional reason that computer technology was seen as a key technology for the industrial development of the Community.
Subject of protection of the directive
According to Article 1, Paragraph 1, the protection of the Directive relates to computer programs which are protected by copyright as literary works within the meaning of the Bern Convention for the Protection of Works of Literature and Art . For the purposes of this guideline, the term “computer program” also includes the design material for its preparation .
Legal basis
The adoption of this directive was based in particular on Article 100a of the EC Treaty (now Article 114 TFEU (procedural provision )).
Structure of Directive 91/250 / EEC
- Article 1 (subject of protection)
- Article 2 (authorship of the program)
- Article 3 (beneficiaries of protection)
- Article 4 (actions requiring consent)
- Article 5 (Exceptions to the acts requiring consent)
- Article 6 (decompilation)
- Article 7 (special protective measures)
- Article 8 (term of protection)
- Article 9 (Further application of other legal provisions)
- Article 10 (final provisions)
- Article 11 ( addressees )
Selected provisions of RL 91/250 / EEC
Authorship of the program
According to Article 2, Paragraph 1 of Directive 91/250 / EEC, the author of a computer program is the natural person, the group of natural persons who created the program, or, as far as permitted by the legal provisions of the member states, the legal person who, according to these legal provisions is considered the holder of the rights. To the extent that collective works are recognized by the legislation of a Member State, the person who is considered to be the person who created the work under the legislation of the Member State is considered to be the author .
If a computer program is created by an employee in the performance of his or her duties or according to the instructions of his employer, only the employer is entitled to exercise all economic rights to the program created in this way, provided that no other contractual agreement is made (Article 2 Paragraph 3 RL 91 / 250 / EEC).
Beneficiaries of protection
According to Article 3 of Directive 91/250 / EEC, all natural and legal persons are entitled to protection in accordance with the national copyright law applicable to works of literature .
Term of protection
The term of protection according to Article 8 of Directive 91/250 / EEC comprises the life of the author and 50 years after his death or after the death of the last living author; for computer programs published anonymously or pseudonymously or for computer programs whose author, in accordance with Article 2, paragraph 1, is to be regarded as a legal person on the basis of national law, the term of protection ends 50 years after the program is first legally made available to the public. The duration of the protection begins on January 1st of the year following the aforementioned events .
With the RL 2006/116 / EG (Protection Period Directive) this period of protection was generally extended to 70 years.
Retroactive effect
The provisions of Directive 91/250 / EEC apply, in accordance with Article 9 (2), without prejudice to any agreements and rights acquired prior to January 1, 1993, to programs created before that date .
Expire
Directive 91/250 / EEC has been repealed with the enactment of Directive 2009/24 / EC (Article 10 of Directive 2009/24 / EC and Annex I).
See also
Web links
- Directive 91/250 / EEC (PDF)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Official long title: DIRECTIVE OF THE COUNCIL of 14 May 1991 on the legal protection of computer programs (91/250 / EEC) (OJ EC No. L 122, 42 to 46).
- ↑ According to recitals 7 and 8 of Directive 91/250 / EEC, “ computer programs ” are programs in any form, including those that are integrated into the hardware; This term also includes design material for the development of a computer program, provided that the type of preparatory work allows the later creation of a computer program. Qualitative or aesthetic merits of a computer program should not be used as a criterion for judging whether a program is an individual work or not .
- ↑ See Recital 1 ff of Directive 91/250 / EEC.
- ↑ See Recital 6 of Directive 91/250 / EEC.
- ↑ Recitals 4 and 5 of Directive 91/250 / EEC.
- ↑ See Recital 3 of Directive 91/250 / EEC.
