Contratti digitali 2019/0770 EN

be fit for the purposes for which digital_content or digital_services of the same type would normally be used, taking into account, where applicable, any existing Union and national law, technical standards or, in the absence of such technical standards, applicable sector-specific industry codes of conduct;

(b)

be of the quantity and possess the qualities and performance features, including in relation to functionality, compatibility, accessibility, continuity and security, normal for digital_content or digital_services of the same type and which the consumer may reasonably expect, given the nature of the digital_content or digital_service and taking into account any public statement made by or on behalf of the trader, or other persons in previous links of the chain of transactions, particularly in advertising or on labelling unless the trader shows that:

(i)	the trader was not, and could not reasonably have been, aware of the public statement in question;

(ii)	by the time of conclusion of the contract, the public statement had been corrected in the same way as, or in a way comparable to how, it had been made; or

(iii)

the decision to acquire the digital_content or digital_service could not have been influenced by the public statement;

(c)	where applicable, be supplied along with any accessories and instructions which the consumer may reasonably expect to receive; and

(d)	comply with any trial version or preview of the digital_content or digital_service, made available by the trader before the conclusion of the contract.

2. The trader shall ensure that the consumer is informed of and supplied with updates, including security updates, that are necessary to keep the digital_content or digital_service in conformity, for the period of time:

(a)	during which the digital_content or digital_service is to be supplied under the contract, where the contract provides for a continuous supply over a period of time; or

(b)	that the consumer may reasonably expect, given the type and purpose of the digital_content or digital_service and taking into account the circumstances and nature of the contract, where the contract provides for a single act of supply or a series of individual acts of supply.

3. Where the consumer fails to install, within a reasonable time, updates supplied by the trader in accordance with paragraph 2, the trader shall not be liable for any lack of conformity resulting solely from the lack of the relevant update, provided that:

(a)	the trader informed the consumer about the availability of the update and the consequences of the failure of the consumer to install it; and

(b)	the failure of the consumer to install or the incorrect installation by the consumer of the update was not due to shortcomings in the installation instructions provided by the trader.

4. Where the contract provides for a continuous supply of digital_content or digital_service over a period of time, the digital_content or digital_service shall be in conformity throughout the duration of that period.

5. There shall be no lack of conformity within the meaning of paragraph 1 or 2 if, at the time of the conclusion of the contract, the consumer was specifically informed that a particular characteristic of the digital_content or digital_service was deviating from the objective requirements for conformity laid down in paragraph 1 or 2 and the consumer expressly and separately accepted that deviation when concluding the contract.

6. Unless the parties have agreed otherwise, digital_content or a digital_service shall be supplied in the most recent version available at the time of the conclusion of the contract.

Article 11

Liability of the trader

1. The trader shall be liable for any failure to supply the digital_content or digital_service in accordance with Article 5.

2. Where a contract provides for a single act of supply or a series of individual acts of supply, the trader shall be liable for any lack of conformity under Articles 7, 8 and 9 which exists at the time of supply, without prejudice to point (b) of Article 8(2).

If, under national law, the trader is only liable for a lack of conformity that becomes apparent within a period of time after supply, that period shall not be less than two years from the time of supply, without prejudice to point (b) of Article 8(2).

If, under national law, the rights laid down in Article 14 are also subject or only subject to a limitation period, Member States shall ensure that such limitation period allows the consumer to exercise the remedies laid down in Article 14 for any lack of conformity that exists at the time indicated in the first subparagraph and becomes apparent within the period of time indicated in the second subparagraph.

3. Where the contract provides for continuous supply over a period of time, the trader shall be liable for a lack of conformity under Articles 7, 8 and 9, that occurs or becomes apparent within the period of time during which the digital_content or digital_service is to be supplied under the contract.

If, under national law, the rights laid down in Article 14 are also subject or only subject to a limitation period, Member States shall ensure that such limitation period allows the consumer to exercise the remedies laid down in Article 14 for any lack of conformity that occurs or becomes apparent during the period of time referred to in the first subparagraph.

Article 17

Obligations of the consumer in the event of termination

1. After the termination of the contract, the consumer shall refrain from using the digital_content or digital_service and from making it available to third parties.

2. Where the digital_content was supplied on a tangible medium, the consumer shall, at the request and at the expense of the trader, return the tangible medium to the trader without undue delay. If the trader decides to request the return of the tangible medium, that request shall be made within 14 days of the day on which the trader is informed of the consumer's decision to terminate the contract.

3. The consumer shall not be liable to pay for any use made of the digital_content or digital_service in the period, prior to the termination of the contract, during which the digital_content or the digital_service was not in conformity.

Article 20

Right of redress

Where the trader is liable to the consumer because of any failure to supply the digital_content or digital_service, or because of a lack of conformity resulting from an act or omission by a person in previous links of the chain of transactions, the trader shall be entitled to pursue remedies against the person or persons liable in the chain of commercial transactions. The person against whom the trader may pursue remedies, and the relevant actions and conditions of exercise, shall be determined by national law.

whereas

(55) The trader should be liable to the consumer in the event of a lack of conformity of the digital_content or digital_service, and for any failure to supply the digital_content or digital_service.
As digital_content or digital_services can be supplied to consumers through one or more individual acts of supply or continuously over a period of time, it is appropriate that the relevant time for the purpose of establishing conformity of the digital_content or digital_service be determined in the light of those different types of supply.

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(56) Digital content or digital_services can be supplied to consumers through a single act of supply, for instance when consumers download an e-book and store it on their personal device.
Similarly, the supply can consist of a series of such individual acts, for instance where consumers receive a link to download a new e-book every week.
The distinctive element of this category of digital_content or digital_service is the fact that consumers thereafter have the possibility to access and use the digital_content or digital_service indefinitely.
In such cases, the conformity of the digital_content or digital_service should be assessed at the time of supply, and therefore the trader should only be liable for any lack of conformity which exists at the time when the single act of supply or each individual act of supply takes place.
In order to ensure legal certainty, traders and consumers should be able to rely on a harmonised minimum period during which the trader should be held liable for a lack of conformity.
In relation to contracts which provide for a single act of supply or a series of individual acts of supply of the digital_content or digital_service, Member States should ensure that traders are liable for not less than two years from the time of supply, if under their respective national law the trader is only liable for any lack of conformity that becomes apparent within a period of time after supply.

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(57) Digital content or digital_services could also be supplied to consumers in a continuous manner over a period of time.
Continuous supply can include cases whereby the trader makes a digital_service available to consumers for a fixed or an indefinite period of time, such as a two-year cloud storage contract or an indefinite social media platform membership.
The distinctive element of this category is the fact that the digital_content or digital_service is available or accessible to consumers only for the fixed duration of the contract or for as long as the indefinite contract is in force.
Therefore, it is justified that the trader, in such cases, should only be liable for a lack of conformity which appears during that period of time.
The element of continuous supply should not necessarily require a long-term supply.
Cases such as web-streaming of a video clip should be considered continuous supply over a period of time, regardless of the actual duration of the audio-visual file.
Cases where specific elements of the digital_content or digital_service are made available periodically or on several instances during the fixed duration of the contract, or for as long as the indefinite contract is in force, should also be considered a continuous supply over a period of time, for instance where the contract stipulates that a copy of anti-virus software can be used for a year and will be automatically updated on the first day of each month of this period, or that the trader will issue updates whenever new features of a digital game become available, and the digital_content or digital_service is available or accessible to consumers only for the fixed duration of the contract or for as long as the indefinite contract is in force.

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(58) Member States should remain free to regulate national limitation periods.
However, such limitation periods should not prevent consumers from exercising their rights throughout the period of time during which the trader is liable for a lack of conformity.
While this Directive should therefore not harmonise the starting point of national limitation periods, it should nevertheless ensure that such periods still allow consumers to exercise their remedies for any lack of conformity that becomes apparent at least during the period during which the trader is liable for a lack of conformity.

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(78) The lack of conformity of the digital_content or digital_service as supplied to the consumer is often due to one of the transactions in a chain that links the original designer to the final trader.
While the final trader should be liable towards the consumer in the event of a lack of conformity, it is important to ensure that the trader has appropriate rights vis-à-vis different persons in the chain of transactions in order to be able to cover the liability towards the consumer.
Such rights should be limited to commercial transactions and they should therefore not cover situations where the trader is liable towards the consumer for the lack of conformity of digital_content or a digital_service that is composed of or built upon software which was supplied without the payment of a price under a free and open-source licence by a person in previous links of the chain of transactions.
However, it should be for the Member States under their applicable national law to identify the persons in the chain of transactions against which the final trader can turn and the modalities and conditions of such actions.

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keyboard_tab Contratti digitali 2019/0770 EN

Contratti digitali 2019/0770 EN