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Vart tog specifikationsprincipen vägen? - Om tolkning av upphovsrättsliga avtal i ljuset av NJA 2025 s. 162.

Petersson, Ebba LU (2025) JURM02 20252
Department of Law
Faculty of Law
Abstract
This thesis examines how copyright agreements should be interpreted in light of the Swedish Supreme Court’s judgment in NJA 2025 p. 162, Deckarserien. The central questions that the thesis explores are how the specification principle previously has been applied in Swedish courts and whether Deckarserien introduced anything new regarding the interpretation of copyright agreements, or whether the case merely constitutes a clarification of existing law. The thesis also examines the concept of contract types and in what ways the Swedish Supreme Court has attached importance to the contract type when interpreting contracts.
The thesis finds that in Swedish legal literature it has long been assumed that a specification principle applies to... (More)
This thesis examines how copyright agreements should be interpreted in light of the Swedish Supreme Court’s judgment in NJA 2025 p. 162, Deckarserien. The central questions that the thesis explores are how the specification principle previously has been applied in Swedish courts and whether Deckarserien introduced anything new regarding the interpretation of copyright agreements, or whether the case merely constitutes a clarification of existing law. The thesis also examines the concept of contract types and in what ways the Swedish Supreme Court has attached importance to the contract type when interpreting contracts.
The thesis finds that in Swedish legal literature it has long been assumed that a specification principle applies to copyright agreements, despite the absence of clear support in statutory law or binding precedent from the Supreme Court. The principle has been described either as meaning that only those parts of a copyright that are expressly identified in an agreement are transferred, or as establishing a presumption that unclear or ambiguous copyright agreements should be interpreted restrictively in favour of the author. This principle has been applied by district courts and courts of appeal as well as by specialized courts such as the Labour Court and the Patent and Market Court of Appeal.
In Deckarserien, the Supreme Court rejected the notion that special interpretative principles should be applied to copyright agreements. Instead, the Court held that such agreements are to be interpreted in accordance with the general principles of contract interpretation, with the possibility of taking into account special copyright-specific considerations. Examples of such considerations include the author’s potentially vulnerable position, the author’s personal connection to the work, and the reproducibility of a work.
Based solely on previous Supreme Court precedents, Deckarserien may be understood as a clarification of the legal position and as a further development of the method of contractual interpretation, particularly as reflected in NJA 2010 p. 559, in which the Supreme Court presented various interpretative factors relevant to copyright agreements. This conclusion is further supported by the fact that the case was not decided in plenary session.
However, the precedent may be seen as entailing a change—if not in substantive law, then in actual legal practice in specialized and lower courts—particularly given that the Patent and Market Court of Appeal applied a specification principle as recently as in its review of Deckarserien. Compared to the application of a specification principle, the new method articulated by the Supreme Court can be understood as an erosion of copyright protection, as it no longer exists an assumption that copyright interests exist or a presumption for a restrictive interpretation of unclear agreements.
The precedent can be said to introduce something new through the Supreme Court’s explicit rejection of special interpretative principles for copyright agreements. Deckarserien also illustrates the complex relationship between contractual interpretation and the burden of proof. (Less)
Abstract (Swedish)
I denna uppsats undersöks hur upphovsrättsliga avtal bör tolkas enligt den avkunnade dom som presenterades i referatet NJA 2025 s. 162, ”Deckarserien”. De centrala frågorna som behandlas i uppsatsen är hur specifikationsprincipen har tillämpats tidigare och om Deckarserien innebär något nytt för hur upphovsrättsliga avtal bör tolkas eller om rättsfallet endast innebär ett förtydligande av gällande rätt. I uppsatsen behandlas även frågorna om vad begreppet avtalstyp innebär samt på vilka sätt HD har lagt vikt vid avtalstyper i sin avtalstolkning.
I uppsatsen konstateras att det i svensk doktrin sedan länge ansetts gälla en princip som benämnts specifikationsprincipen, utan att denna fått stöd i lagstiftning eller prejudikat från HD.... (More)
I denna uppsats undersöks hur upphovsrättsliga avtal bör tolkas enligt den avkunnade dom som presenterades i referatet NJA 2025 s. 162, ”Deckarserien”. De centrala frågorna som behandlas i uppsatsen är hur specifikationsprincipen har tillämpats tidigare och om Deckarserien innebär något nytt för hur upphovsrättsliga avtal bör tolkas eller om rättsfallet endast innebär ett förtydligande av gällande rätt. I uppsatsen behandlas även frågorna om vad begreppet avtalstyp innebär samt på vilka sätt HD har lagt vikt vid avtalstyper i sin avtalstolkning.
I uppsatsen konstateras att det i svensk doktrin sedan länge ansetts gälla en princip som benämnts specifikationsprincipen, utan att denna fått stöd i lagstiftning eller prejudikat från HD. Specifikationsprincipens innebörd har av vissa beskrivits som att endast de delar av en upphovsrätt som uttryckligen omfattas av ett avtal ska anses överlåtna. Flera inom doktrinen har beskrivit principens innebörd som att det föreligger en presumtion om att oklara upphovsrättsliga avtal ska tolkas restriktivt till förmån för upphovsmannen. Denna princip har tillämpats i tings- och hovrätter, och även i spe-cialdomstolar som Arbetsdomstolen (AD) och Patent- och marknadsöverdomstolen (PMÖD).
Genom Deckarserien avvisade HD tanken att det i svensk avtalstolkningslära ska tillämpas särskilda principer vid tolkning av upphovsrättsliga avtal. Vid tolkning av upphovsrättsliga avtal ska i stället särskilda upphovsrättsliga hänsyn beaktas, om sådana föreligger. Detta ska samspela med den sedvanliga avtalstolkningen. Några exempel på särskilda upphovsrättsliga hänsyn är att upphovsmannen kan ha en särskilt utsatt position, upphovsmannens personliga koppling till sitt verk eller reproducerbarheten av ett verk.
Utifrån endast tidigare prejudikat från HD kan Deckarserien ses som ett förtydligande av rättsläget och utvecklar avtalstolkningsmetoden vilken framgår särskilt av NJA 2010 s. 559 där HD presenterade olika tolkningsfaktorer som kan ge ledning vid tolkning av upphovsrättsliga avtal. Att rättsfallet inte utgör en förändring av rättsutvecklingen bekräftas även av att HD avgjorde tvisten i plenum.
Prejudikatet kan dock ses som att innebära en förändring, om inte av gällande rätt så av den faktiska rättstillämpningen i special- och underrätter. Att så är fallet förtydligas särskilt av att PMÖD tillämpat en specifikationsprincip så nyligen som i andrainstansprövningen av Deckarserien. Den nya metod som läggs fram i HD kan vid en jämförelse med en tillämpning av en specifikationsprincip ses som en urholkning av det upphovsrättsliga skyddet. Detta då det inte längre finns ett antagande om att upphovsrättsliga intressen föreligger eller en presumtion för en restriktiv tolkning av oklara avtal.
Prejudikatet kan även sägas innebära något nytt vad gäller HD:s tydliga ställningstagande att det inte ska gälla särskilda tolkningsprinciper för upp-hovsrättsliga avtal. Slutligen visar prejudikatet på den komplicerade relationen mellan bevisbörda och tolkning. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
Petersson, Ebba LU
supervisor
organization
alternative title
Where did the specification principle go? - Interpretation of copy right agreements in light of NJA 2025 s. 162
course
JURM02 20252
year
type
H3 - Professional qualifications (4 Years - )
subject
keywords
avtalsrätt, förmögenhetsrätt, immaterialrätt, upphovsrätt, specifikationsprincipen
language
Swedish
id
9216537
date added to LUP
2026-01-12 16:46:34
date last changed
2026-01-12 16:46:34
@misc{9216537,
  abstract     = {{This thesis examines how copyright agreements should be interpreted in light of the Swedish Supreme Court’s judgment in NJA 2025 p. 162, Deckarserien. The central questions that the thesis explores are how the specification principle previously has been applied in Swedish courts and whether Deckarserien introduced anything new regarding the interpretation of copyright agreements, or whether the case merely constitutes a clarification of existing law. The thesis also examines the concept of contract types and in what ways the Swedish Supreme Court has attached importance to the contract type when interpreting contracts.
The thesis finds that in Swedish legal literature it has long been assumed that a specification principle applies to copyright agreements, despite the absence of clear support in statutory law or binding precedent from the Supreme Court. The principle has been described either as meaning that only those parts of a copyright that are expressly identified in an agreement are transferred, or as establishing a presumption that unclear or ambiguous copyright agreements should be interpreted restrictively in favour of the author. This principle has been applied by district courts and courts of appeal as well as by specialized courts such as the Labour Court and the Patent and Market Court of Appeal.
In Deckarserien, the Supreme Court rejected the notion that special interpretative principles should be applied to copyright agreements. Instead, the Court held that such agreements are to be interpreted in accordance with the general principles of contract interpretation, with the possibility of taking into account special copyright-specific considerations. Examples of such considerations include the author’s potentially vulnerable position, the author’s personal connection to the work, and the reproducibility of a work. 
Based solely on previous Supreme Court precedents, Deckarserien may be understood as a clarification of the legal position and as a further development of the method of contractual interpretation, particularly as reflected in NJA 2010 p. 559, in which the Supreme Court presented various interpretative factors relevant to copyright agreements. This conclusion is further supported by the fact that the case was not decided in plenary session.
However, the precedent may be seen as entailing a change—if not in substantive law, then in actual legal practice in specialized and lower courts—particularly given that the Patent and Market Court of Appeal applied a specification principle as recently as in its review of Deckarserien. Compared to the application of a specification principle, the new method articulated by the Supreme Court can be understood as an erosion of copyright protection, as it no longer exists an assumption that copyright interests exist or a presumption for a restrictive interpretation of unclear agreements.
The precedent can be said to introduce something new through the Supreme Court’s explicit rejection of special interpretative principles for copyright agreements. Deckarserien also illustrates the complex relationship between contractual interpretation and the burden of proof.}},
  author       = {{Petersson, Ebba}},
  language     = {{swe}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{Vart tog specifikationsprincipen vägen? - Om tolkning av upphovsrättsliga avtal i ljuset av NJA 2025 s. 162.}},
  year         = {{2025}},
}