For a long time it was unclear whether technical standards, such as DIN standards, are protected by copyright. The Court of Justice of the European Union in Luxembourg (EuG) has now ruled in its judgment of 14.07.2021, ref. T-185/19, that document collections are protected by copyright.
Are DIN standards comparable to laws?
It is obvious that laws, ordinances and statutes cannot enjoy copyright protection. It was therefore questionable for a long time whether technical protection standards should be classified as laws. Until now, this was often seen as meaning that DIN standards (standards of the German Institute for Standardisation), for example, could not be protected by copyright. This is because the regulations have an official character and are also financed with taxpayers' money and should therefore also be accessible free of charge and not be subject to copyright protection. Among others, the organisation Right To Know, based in Dublin, Ireland, took action against this obligation to pay costs. It invoked the European Union's Regulation on Access to Documents, Article 2 of which states that there is a right of free access to documents of the European Union institutions, and took the matter to the European Court of Justice (ECJ).
Copyright protection for technical standards?
The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) has now affirmed copyright protection for technical standards. Unlike laws, technical standards are not freely accessible, but are published by standardisation associations or organisations and are therefore subject to a fee. Technical standards are therefore not laws. There is also no public and justified interest in making the chargeable standards available to everyone free of charge.
The judgement is not final.
Source: ECJ, Judgment of 14 July 2021 - Ref.: T-185/19
GoldbergUllrich Lawyers 2021
Attorney at Law Christopher Pillat, LL.M. (Intellectual Property Law)
