External cheat tools do not infringe console manufacturers’ copyrights as long as they do not touch the source code. The European Court of Justice (ECJ) delivered this ruling at the request of the Federal Court. In this specific case, it is about the cheat tools “Action Replay PSP” and “Tilt FX” from the German provider Detel for Sony’s mobile console PSP, which can be used for example to change the drivers and turbo boost in “Motorstorm Arctic Age”. Can be done to unlock. ,
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German copyright law and both EU Directive on legal protection of computer programs Determine whether “translation, editing, arrangement, and other modification of a computer program” infringes the developer’s copyright. But the ECJ has now ruled: Detel’s fraud tools do not replicate and therefore do not violate EU law. Accordingly, Sony should not prohibit the sale of such devices.
data changed in memory
The “Action Replay PSP” and “Tilt FX” tools are located on additional modules that plug into the PSP. They activate cheat commands in video games that were not created by the developers using their own menus. The software runs parallel to the actual game. However, this does not change the game code, only the data stored in main memory.
Music videos in Spotify: now available to Premium users in additional countries“The Court considers that the protection specifically granted by the Directive does not cover the content of variable data created in the memory of a computer by a computer program and used in the operation of the programme, insofar as “That the content does not involve the subsequent reproduction or creation of such data programmes,” said an ECJ statement on Thursday.
The ECJ says the EU directive only protects the intellectual creation that is reflected in the source code of video games. However, the program’s “functionalities” are not secure.
Basis of decision by BGH
Sony filed a lawsuit in Hamburg regional court in 2012, which ruled in Sony’s favor at first instance. But the Hamburg Higher Regional Court reached a different conclusion during its appeal and dismissed Sony’s lawsuit. After Sony appealed against it, the case ended up in the Federal Court, which turned to the ECJ for clarification in 2023.
With its decision, the ECJ largely matches the reasoning of the Hamburg Higher Regional Court, which had ruled against Sony in the second instance. The High Regional Court wrote at the time that modification occurs only when “changes are made to the program” or “changes are made to the copy of the program uploaded to the main memory.”
The ECJ’s ruling has no direct legal effect, but rather serves as a basis for decisions of national courts such as the Federal Court of Justice (BGH). BGH is yet to deliver a final court ruling in Sony’s case against Detel. The ECJ’s legal interpretation could also have a decisive impact on comparable legal disputes between console manufacturers or between game studios and makers of cheat tools.
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