BGH rules against Sony: Cheat tools do not infringe copyright
Cheat tools developed for PSP games do not infringe Sony's copyright, the BGH has ruled. It thus follows the reasoning of the ECJ.
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The German Federal Court of Justice (BGH) has dismissed an appeal by Sony in the legal dispute against two manufacturers of cheat tools. According to the BGH, the two cheat tools developed for PSP games do not infringe the copyright of developer Sony because they do not modify the source code (case no. I ZR 157/21).
Sony had already filed the lawsuit in 2012, and since then it has gone through numerous instances. Most recently, the Higher Regional Court of Hamburg ruled that the cheat tools do not infringe Sony's copyright. Sony appealed against this decision. Before its own decision, the BGH had turned to the Court of Justice of the European Union for an assessment.
In its ruling of July 31, the BGH now agrees with the classification of the European Court of Justice, which also does not see any copyright infringement in such tools.
No modification of the program
Both the German Copyright Act (Section 69c No. 2) and the EU Directive on the legal protection of computer programs stipulate that “the translation, adaptation, arrangement, or other alteration of a computer program” infringes the developer's copyright. However, in the opinion of the ECJ and the BGH, the cheat tools complained of by Sony do not constitute such a modification.
“The forms of expression of a computer program that are protected by copyright include the source code and the object code, as they enable the reproduction or subsequent creation of this program,” writes the BGH in a statement. However, the defendant's cheat tools do not change the source code, but only the data that is stored in the working memory. This means that these tools only change the program flow and not the program data itself. There was therefore no infringement of the game manufacturer's copyright.
Cheat tools “Action Replay PSP” and “Tilt FX”
The lawsuit was specifically about the tools “Action Replay PSP” and “Tilt FX”. They were distributed on add-on modules that are plugged into the Sony PSP mobile console. Using their menus, they can activate cheat commands in video games that were not intended by the developers. The software runs parallel to the actual game.
In the game “Motorstorm Arctic Edge,” which is prominently described in Sony's lawsuit, it was possible to unlock all drivers or use a usually limited turbo permanently. Sony saw the cheat tools as an infringement of its copyright as publisher of the game: “It is important that the rules are the same for everyone to maintain the fun of the game and the comparability of the results,” the Japanese games company argued in court.
Sony's lawsuit was first filed with the Hamburg Regional Court in 2012, which ruled in favor of Sony in the first instance (310 O 199/10). According to the court, the distribution of the tools would also constitute a copyright infringement. The Hamburg Higher Regional Court came to a different conclusion in its appeal proceedings and dismissed Sony's claim (5 U 23/12). After Sony lodged an appeal against this, the case ended up at the Federal Court of Justice.
Last year, a jury in the USA ruled that cheats can infringe the copyright of game publishers. Sony subsidiary Bungie had filed a lawsuit in 2021 against the company Phoenix Digital, whose website Aimjunkies offers tools that players can use to gain an advantage in “Destiny 2,” among other things. Members of the jury decided that Phoenix Digital must pay Sony 63,000 USD in damages.
(dahe)
