Re: Database Protection -- Information Industry Perspective

Karen Coyle wrote:
>
> I don't understand why databases need "non-copyright" protection.
> Databases that have any kind of originality of content are already
> covered by copyright, aren't they? And aren't these the high-quality
> information products that you are talking about?

Well, yeh, to the extent that there is originality in expression.

> I also wish that someone would define "their essential parts" for me.
> And where does fair use come in to the picture?

Nothing special as far as I am concerned. You apply the analysis required by 17 USC 107, and determine whether there was fair use.

> The WIPO document also says "Many valuable databases do not qualify for
> copyright protection." Can you give me some examples of these databases
> (beyond the phone book, please)?

I think you read Feist too literally. My view is that the primary requirement for copyright protection is protectable expression. In the case of phone book white pages, there was determined to be none. But I would suggest that many databases don't really contain much, if any more expression. For example, my utility company keeps a database of the credit histories of its customers. There is absolutely no expression (on the part of the utility company) that I paid $153.75 last month. This is a fact, and as such is not protected by copyright. Most, if not all, of the fields in the database records are essentially functional. There is no copyright protection covering a field for the amount of my last payment, or my balance, or when I paid the last bill, or a bunch of other things that any competent database designer would include in the database.

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Bruce E. Hayden                                  bhayden[_at_]acm.org
Austin, Texas                                    bhayden[_at_]copatlaw.com