Request for a preliminary ruling from the Bundesgerichtshof (Germany) lodged on 15 March 2023 – Sony Computer Entertainment Europe Ltd. v Datel Design and Development Ltd., Datel Direct Ltd., JS
(Case C-159/23, Sony Computer Entertainment Europe)
Language of the case: German
Referring court
Bundesgerichtshof
Parties to the main proceedings
Applicant and appellant on a point of law: Sony Computer Entertainment Europe Ltd.
Defendants and respondents on a point of law: Datel Design and Development Ltd., Datel Direct Ltd., JS
Questions referred
1. Is there an interference with the protection afforded to a computer program under Article 1(1) to (3) of Directive 2009/24/EC 1 in the case where it is not the object code or the source code of a computer program, or the reproduction thereof, that is changed, but instead another program running at the same time as the protected computer program changes the content of variables which the protected computer program has transferred to the working memory and uses in the running of the program?
2. Is an alteration within the meaning of Article 4(1)(b) of Directive 2009/24 present in the case where it is not the object code or the source code of a computer program, or the reproduction thereof, that is changed, but instead another program running at the same time as the protected computer program changes the content of variables which the protected computer program has transferred to the working memory and uses in the running of the program?
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1 Directive 2009/24/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 April 2009 on the legal protection of computer programs (Codified version) (OJ 2009 L 111, p. 16).