Summary
Short analysis published by Lexis News of the opinion of Advocate General Szpunar in Top System v Belgian State (C-13/20). According to the Advocate General, the 1991 Software Directive allows the lawful acquirer of a computer program to decompile it where this is necessary to correct errors, unless the licence agreement provides otherwise. The note explains what decompilation is, how this question relates to the narrower interoperability exception, and what it would mean in practice for software licences that are silent on decompilation, given that the relevant provisions are identical in the current Directive 2009/24/EC.
Reference
H. Haouideg, "AG Szpunar: licensee may decompile a computer program to correct errors unless restricted by licence (Top System SA v Belgium)", Lexis News, 2021.