Reference for a preliminary ruling from Supreme Court of the United Kingdom made on 27 June 2013 – Public Relations Consultants Association Ltd v The Newspaper Licensing Agency Ltd and others
(Case C-360/13)
Language of the case: English
Referring court
Supreme Court of the United Kingdom
Parties to the main proceedings
Applicant: Public Relations Consultants Association Ltd
Defendant: The Newspaper Licensing Agency Ltd and others
Questions referred
In circumstances where :
an end-user views a web-page without downloading, printing or otherwise setting out to make a copy of it ;
copies of that web-page are automatically made on screen and in the internet “cache” on the end-user’s hard disk;
the creation of those copies is indispensable to the technical processes involved in correct and efficient internet browsing;
the screen copy remains on screen until the end-user moves away from the relevant web-page, when it is automatically deleted by the normal operation of the computer;
the cached copy remains in the cache until it is overwritten by other material as the end-user views further web-pages, when it is automatically deleted by the normal operation of the computer; and
the copies are retained for no longer than the ordinary processes associated with internet use referred to at (iv) and (v) above continue;
Are such copies (i) temporary, (ii) transient or incidental and (iii) an integral and essential part of the technological process within the meaning of Article 5(1) of Directive 2001/29/EC1 ?
____________1 Directive 2001/29/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 22 May 2001 on the harmonisation of certain aspects of copyright and related rights in the information society
OJ L 167, p. 10