(1)Where a person has the use of a computer program under an agreement, any term or condition in the agreement shall be void in so far as it purports to prohibit or restrict—
(a)the making of any back up copy of the program which it is necessary for him to have for the purposes of the agreed use;
(b)where the conditions in section 50B(2) are met, the decompiling of the program; or
(c)the observing, studying or testing of the functioning of the program in accordance with section 50BA.
(2)In this section, decompile, in relation to a computer program, has the same meaning as in section 50B
Cases considering section 296A 4
[2025] EWHC 532 (TCC) · 10 March 2025Disapplies
Renders contractual terms void insofar as they prohibit or restrict the specified back-up, decompilation and observation, study or testing rights. The court applied the statutory framework but held that the relevant contractual restrictions did not unlawfully restrict the exceptions relied upon. (see paras [239]-[240], [271])
[2022] EWHC 2094 (TCC) · 5 August 2022Limits
The court treated Section 296A as limiting contractual terms that purport to prohibit conduct protected by the statutory scheme. Its effect formed part of the English-law analysis of the reverse-engineering clause, but was not dispositive of improper means under US or Texas law (see paras [32], [51]-[55]).
[2010] EWHC 1829 (Ch) · 23 July 2010Interprets
The court treated section 296A(1)(c) as part of the domestic implementation of the software-program observation and testing protection. The court held that its meaning had to be determined consistently with Article 5(3). (see paras [161]; [291]-[315])
What each judgment says about section 296A is in the case-law panel in the full Act.