Legal Aspects of the Information Society. - Free Technology Academy

GNUFDL • 23 Intellectual property: authors' rights and copyright
Exclusive exploitation rights are those recognised by law to their owner and
grant an exclusive power to exercise or authorise (and, accordingly, to prohibit)
beforehand certain forms or acts of exploitation with respect to their work.
Acts of exploitation include, without limitation, reproduction (copy), distribution,
public communication and transformation.
EU Computer Programs Directive, Article 4
Subject to the provisions of Articles 5 and 6, the exclusive rights of the rightholder within
the meaning of Article 2, shall include the right to do or to authorise:
(a) The permanent or temporary reproduction of a computer program by any means and
in any form, in part or in whole. Insofar as loading, displaying, running, transmission
or storage of the computer program necessitate such reproduction, such acts shall be
subject to authorisation by the rightholder.
(b) The translation, adaptation, arrangement and any other alteration of a computer
program and the reproduction of the results thereof, without prejudice to the rights of
the person who alters the program.
(c) Any form of distribution to the public, including the rental, of the original computer
program or of copies thereof.
As may be seen, the exploitation rights of the author of a computer program
are basically the same as those for any other work, although they must be
adapted to its own characteristics.
4.2.1. Reproduction right
Reproduction consists of incorporating a work or any part thereof on a medium
allowing for its communication and obtaining further copies, directly or
indirectly, provisionally or permanently, by any means or in any form. Even
short-lived copies are considered reproductions.
Supplementary content
Note that the EUCPD does not
apply the public communication
right (e.g. transmissions
in digital format via the web)
to software, however it is generally
understood (either by
doctrine or case law) that software
is subject to this exclusive
right.
EUCD, Article 2. Reproduction right
Member States shall provide for the exclusive right to authorise or prohibit direct or
indirect, temporary or permanent reproduction by any means and in any form, in whole
or in part...
Acts requiring authorisation
In principle, the following acts require authorisation, as they constitute reproductions:
• Downloading from the net and storage to a local hard drive or flash card.
• Making copies on CDs, DVDs, or flash memory (subject to the right to make private
copies or fair use).
• Transmission: the delivery to another system by telecommunication, local network,
etc. or uploading of files onto a web server, or their download to a local computer
(for instance, P2P transfers) or attaching a file to an email and sending it.
• Loading a program to execute it: introducing the program into the RAM.
• Presentation: on-screen visualisation of the graphic interface.
• The integration or incorporation of the code lines of a third party in a new development.