Re: Databases, creativity, and copyright -- what's missing is wrong?

On 29 Sep 1998, Timothy Phillips <hrothgar[_at_]telepath.com> wrote:
>
> Is the database bill necessary ? My answer is, "No and maybe."
> In situations where the public-goods problem operates and the
> compilation copyright doesn't protect adequately, some sort of
> new misappropriation law or sui-generis protection may be needed.
> But the database bill presently in congress is an alarmist
> over-reaction to a problem whose existence has not clearly been
> demonstrated. The proponents want to create sweat-of-the-brow
> protection for everything that can possibly be construed as a
> "collection of information."

Take, for instance, the publication of a membership directory in database form aimed solely at promoting communications among members. The list probably includes members' professional addresses, fax numbers, telephone numbers, email, etc.

Under the present law, a copy of that database can become a mailing list "rented" to direct marketers at a very high profit. The members are deluged with junk mail, spam, and annoying calls. The market value to of the database to the members, who may also wish to rent it under controlled conditions, is also diluted. "Renters" of the copy receive dated information rather than the current update and waste resources on many nixies. Ever

Using the old technology, mailing list vendors would take a print copy of such a directory and have it typed onto carbonized "penny" labels. Later, photocopy replaced carbon paper. Typewriter technology limited the abuse to mailings. Electronic databases make telephone, fax, and email relatively easy as well as eliminating a substantial labor cost.

Many associations market their list to meeting organizers, publishers, and equipment vendors that serve the special interests of the members. Generally, credit cards, insurance pitches, and other general consumer promotions are excluded.

The members, who paid for the compilation, are forced to compete with 'pirates' who merely copied the d/b. The market may be controlled by brokers, who sell dated facts rather than current information because of their preoccupation with commissions.

The proposed legislation may have a desirable effect.

Albert Henderson, Editor, PUBLISHING RESEARCH QUARTERLY <70244.1532[_at_]compuserve.com> Received on Thu Oct 01 1998 - 13:17:36 GMT