# Computer Programs Directive

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EU copyright directive

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Directive 91/250/EEC 2009/24/EC European Union directive Title Directive on the legal protection of computer programs Made by Council of the European Union Made under Art. 100a Journal reference L122, 1991-05-17, pp. 9–13 History Date made 14 May 1991 Entry into force 17 May 1991 Implementation date 1 January 1993//25 May 2009 Preparative texts Commission proposal C91, 1989-04-12, p. 4 C320, 1990-12-20, p. 22 EESC opinion C329, 1989-12-30, p. 4 EP opinion C231, 1990-09-17, p. 78 Reports Other legislation Replaces — Amends — Amended by 93/98/EEC Replaced by Directive 2009/24/EC on the legal protection of computer programs Current legislation

The [European Union](/source/European_Union) **Computer Programs Directive** controls the legal protection of computer programs under the [copyright law of the European Union](/source/Copyright_law_of_the_European_Union). It was issued under the [internal market](/source/Single_European_market) provisions of the [Treaty of Rome](/source/Treaty_of_Rome). The most recent version is Directive 2009/24/EC.[1]

## History

In Europe, the need to foster the computer software industry brought attention to the lack of adequate harmonisation among the copyright laws of the various EU nations with respect to such software.[2] Economic pressure spurred the development of the first directive which had two goals (1) the harmonisation of the law and (2) dealing with the problems caused by the need for interoperability.[3]

The first EU Directive on the legal protection of computer programs was Council Directive 91/250/EEC of 14 May 1991. It required (Art. 1) that computer programs and any associated design material be protected under [copyright](/source/Copyright) as literary works within the sense of the [Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works](/source/Berne_Convention_for_the_Protection_of_Literary_and_Artistic_Works).[4][5]

The Directive also defined the copyright protection to be applied to computer programs: the owner of the copyright has the exclusive right to authorise (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](/source/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 legal owner 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 it 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. According to the lawyer Patrice-Emmanuel Schmitz and based on recitals 10 and 15 of the Directive, the copyright exception applies also when no decompilation is needed, i.e. when open source code is publicly available[6].

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 1993 [Copyright Duration Directive](/source/Copyright_Duration_Directive) (superseded but confirmed by the 2006 [Copyright Term Directive](/source/Copyright_Term_Directive)).[7]

Council Directive 91/250/EEC was formally replaced by Directive 2009/24/EC on 25 May 2009,[8] which consolidated "the various minor amendments the original directive had received over the years".[9]

## Implementation

Implementation of the Directive by Member States Austria Urheberrechtsgesetznovelle 1993, BGBl. No. 93/1993, p. 1166 Belgium Law of 30.06.1994 (French), Law of 30.06.1994 (Flemish), Moniteur Belge du 17 juillet 1994, p. 19315 Bulgaria unknown Cyprus unknown Czech Republic Law No. 121/2000 Coll. of 7 April 2000 on Copyright, Rights Related to Copyright and on the Amendment of Certain Laws Denmark LOV nr 1010 af 19/12/1992 updated by LBK nr 1144 af 23/10/2014 Estonia Autoriõiguse seadus (2024-10-12) Finland Laws Nos. 418/93 and 419/93, Finnish Official Journal of 1993-05-12, p. 415 France Loi no 94–361 du 10 mai 1994 portant mise en oeuvre de la directive (C. E. E.) no 91–250 du Conseil des communautés européennes en date du 14 mai 1991 concernant la protection juridique des programmes d'ordinateur et modifiant le code de la propriété intellectuelle Germany Zweites Gesetz zur Änderung des Urheberrechtsgesetzes vom 9. Juni 1993, BGBl I p. 910 Greece Law No. 2121/93, Official Journal A No. 25 Hungary unknown Ireland European Communities (Legal Protection of Computer Programs) Regulations, 1993 (S.I. No. 26 of 1993) Italy Decreto Legislativo No. 518 del 29 dicembre 1992 Latvia Autortiesību likums (2000-04-06) Lithuania Autorių teisių ir gretutinių teisių įstatimas N. VIII-1185 (1999-05-18) Luxembourg Loi du 18 avril 2001 sur les droits d'auteur, les droits voisins et les bases de données. Section 7 – Les programmes d'ordinateur Malta Copyright Act, 2000 Netherlands Wet van 07.07.1994, Stb. JS-1994, p. 521 Poland Ustawa z 4 lutego 1994 o prawie autorskim i prawach pokrewnych, art. 74–77, Dz.U. 1994 nr 24 poz. 83 Portugal Decreto-Lei n. 252/94, de 20 de Outubro de 1994, Diário da República – I Série A, no. 243 de 20 de Outubro de 1994, p. 6374 Romania Law No.8/1996 updated November 2014, state authority: Romanian Copyright Office, see also Intellectual property in Romania Slovakia Copyright Act of 1997-12-05 (No. 383/1997) Slovenia Zakon o avtorskih in sorodnih pravicah (1995-03-30) Spain Ley 16/1993, de 23 de diciembre, de incorporación al Derecho español de la Directiva 91/250/CEE, de 14 de mayo, sobre la protección jurídica de programas de ordenador Sweden Act No. 1687/92 United Kingdom Copyright (Computer Programs) Regulations 1992 No. 3233

## See also

- [Copyright law of the European Union](/source/Copyright_law_of_the_European_Union)

- [Software copyright](/source/Software_copyright)

## References

1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** ["Directive 2009/24/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 April 2009 on the legal protection of computer programs"](https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/ALL/?uri=CELEX:32009L0024). Publications Office of the European Union.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** Preamble to Council Directive 91/250/EEC of 14 May 1991

1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** Mylly, Ulla-Maija (2009). ["Harmonizing Copyright Rules for Computer Program Interface Protection"](http://www.law.louisville.edu/sites/www.law.louisville.edu/files/cicl2-mylly.pdf) (PDF). **48**. Louisville, Kentucky: University of Louisville Law Review: 877–911, page 878. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20100605051113/http://www.law.louisville.edu/sites/www.law.louisville.edu/files/cicl2-mylly.pdf) (PDF) from the original on 5 June 2010. {{[cite journal](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:Cite_journal)}}: Cite journal requires |journal= ([help](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:CS1_errors#missing_periodical))

1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** [Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works](https://www.wipo.int/wipolex/en/text/283698). WIPO Lex. World Intellectual Property Organization.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** Palenski, Ronald J. (1991). ["The EC Software Directive: Meeting the Challenges of the Information Age"](http://cardozoaelj.com/wp-content/uploads/Journal%20Issues/Volume%2010/Issue%201/Palenski.pdf) (PDF). *Cardozo Arts & Entertainment Law Journal*. **10** (1): 191–276. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20140510161916/http://cardozoaelj.com/wp-content/uploads/Journal%20Issues/Volume%2010/Issue%201/Palenski.pdf) (PDF) from the original on 10 May 2014.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-6)** SCHMITZ, Patrice-Emmanuel (23 November 2015). ["Why viral licensing is a ghost | Interoperable Europe Portal"](https://interoperable-europe.ec.europa.eu/collection/eupl/news/why-viral-licensing-ghost). *interoperable-europe.ec.europa.eu*. Retrieved 22 January 2026.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-7)** [Council Directive 93/98/EEC of 29 October 1993 harmonizing the term of protection of copyright and certain related rights](https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/ALL/?uri=CELEX:31993L0083), *OJ* no. L290 of 1993-11-24, p. 9.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-8)** Articles 10 and 11 of the [*Directive 2009/24/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 April 2009 on the legal protection of computer programs*](https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/ALL/?uri=CELEX:32009L0024), L 111/16 EN, Official Journal of the European Union, 5 May 2009.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-9)** [Jeremy Phillips](/source/Jeremy_Phillips), [*Tuesday tiddleywinks*](https://ipkitten.blogspot.com/2009/05/tuesday-tiddleywinks.html), [IPKat](/source/IPKat), 5 May 2009. Consulted on 5 May 2009.

## External links

- [Text of the original directive on the legal protection of computer programs](https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/ALL/?uri=CELEX:31991L0250) (no longer in force) - [Consolidated version of the directive](https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:01991L0250-19931119) (1993-11-19) no longer in force - [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](https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/ALL/?uri=CELEX:52000DC0199), (2000-04-10)

- [Directive 2009/24/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 April 2009 on the legal protection of computer programs](https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/ALL/?uri=CELEX:32009L0024) current directive, in force

v t e Intellectual property laws in the European Union (EU) Copyright Directives Computer Programs Directive (1991) Rental Directive (1992) Satellite and Cable Directive (1993) Copyright Duration Directive (1993) Database Directive (1996) Conditional Access Directive (1998) Electronic Commerce Directive 2000 (2000) Information Society Directive (2001) Resale Rights Directive (2001) Directive on the re-use of public sector information (2003) Enforcement Directive (2004) Copyright Term Directive (2006) Directive on Copyright in the Digital Single Market (2019) Customs Regulation 1383/2003 (2003) National laws France Germany Ireland Italy Netherlands Poland Romania Spain Sweden United Kingdom Trade mark Ireland United Kingdom European Union trade mark Trade Marks Directive (1988) Société des Produits Nestlé S.A. v. Cadbury UK Limited Patent Germany The Netherlands Romania Directive on the legal protection of biotechnological inventions (1998) European patent law Unified Patent Court Unitary patent Designs Hague Agreement (1999) Directive on the legal protection of designs (1998) Regulation on European Union designs (2001) European Union design Geographical indications Protected designation of origin Traditional speciality guaranteed Trade secrets Directive on the Protection of Trade Secrets (2016) German Law on the Protection of Trade Secrets (2019) Treaties Berne Convention Lisbon Agreement Madrid system Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property Rome Convention for the Protection of Performers, Producers of Phonograms and Broadcasting Organisations TRIPS Agreement WIPO Copyright Treaty WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Computer Programs Directive](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_Programs_Directive) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_Programs_Directive?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.