Re: Protection for proposal for database design

On Fri, 23 Apr 1999, Lynn Levine <lynnlevine[_at_]aol.com> wrote:
>
> On 4/23/99, Sabrina McLaughlin <smclaughlin1[_at_]doc.gov> wrote:
> >
> > On Wed, 21 Apr 1999, Paul Billings <pbillings[_at_]glankler.com> wrote:
> > >
> > > Client does database design work for a public agency. Public
> > > agency loves the work, and asks client to submit a proposal
> > > expanding upon the earlier design for a much larger agency.
> > > Agency has IS department use 12 page proposal to create database
> > > system outlined in proposal. Agency refuses to pay Client to do
> > > design work pursuant to proposal. Client's proposal prominently
> > > mentions copyright claim on each page.
> > >
> > > Is the proposal copyrightable? Is Agency's use as blueprint to
> > > create similar database system actionable? TIA for comments.
> >
> > You NEED to be following a piece of legislation that you can find on
> > the Internet called HR 354, "The Collections of Information Antipiracy
> > Act." You should also be aware that, if the public agency is a
> > tax-payer funded one, they may have contractual obligations that
> > require public disclosure, irregardless of your copyright notice.
>
> As I understand HR 354, it does not address Mr. Billing's problem at
> all. His problem is that someone put enough detailed information
> in a proposal to do work for a potential client that the client was
> then able to follow the proposal's suggestion without hiring the
> person/company who made the proposal. I have seen such proposals that
> include nondisclosure-like language to try to prevent a scenario such
> as Mr. Billings described. The real problem in this case was that
> someone accidentally gave away their own store. HR 354 proposes a
> misappropriation-based law that will prevent bad actors from giving
> (or selling) away someone else's store.

Lynn,

     I understand your concern, but I'm less focused on the client/contract/overgenerous disclosure aspect than on the public agency aspect. Granted, I may be TOO focused on that angle (!), but this is the scenario that I envisioned: let's say some federal agency -- we'll say the Bureau of Land Management -- hires the company to design an on-line system for keeping its data on oil-drilling sites. ("Database design work" can mean organizing a simple, noncopyrightable database). The company plans for the basic digitization of the Bureau's information by state, oil company involved, and by oil quantity recovered -- something not terribly original. If the Department of Interior wants to set up a similar database covering Native reservations and their natural resources, what does design company do? If the design work involved is technical advice on how to go Internet, then we're talking about the overly-broad disclosure problem. If the design work also involves a system for maintaining the information (by resource, by tribe), then the design company may not have the freedom to offer the system of information collected at tax-payer expense to any for-profit. Then we start getting into HR 354/capture of government data problems. I would say that much depends on what that "blueprint" IS.

Sabrina McLaughlin
smclaughlin1[_at_]doc.gov Received on Tue Apr 27 1999 - 00:00:35 GMT