CJEU: no copyright infringement on cached files

The European Court of Justice has ruled that the mechanism of a browser cache does not infringe copyrights. The ruling was made at the request of a British court.

In 2009, the company Meltwater sued the Newspaper Licensing Agency in the United Kingdom. Meltwater wanted to know within which legal frameworks an automated software program that indexes news can operate. The software also looks at the browser cache and how a page is rendered on the screen.

The British Supreme Court initially stated that Meltwater would infringe copyrights with this method, which could indirectly make the use of a browser cache punishable if the copyright owner has not given explicit permission in advance. Ultimately, the judges decided to refer the case to the European Court of Justice. It has now stated that a browser cache does not infringe copyrights if a web browser uses a caching mechanism.

In an explanation of the judgment, the judges stated that a mechanism such as a cache, in which copies of web pages and elements are temporarily stored, is technically more or less necessary to be able to use web pages. However, the judges say that permanently placing files in the browser cache could violate copyrights.