ORGANIZACIÓN MUNDIAL 
DEL COMERCIO 
Consejo de los Aspectos de los Derechos de Propiedad 
Intelectual relacionados con el Comercio IP/N/1/EEC/C/2 
31 de julio de 1996 
(96-3051) 
Original: español/ 
francés/ 
inglés 
PRINCIPALES LEYES Y REGLAMENTOS DEDICADOS A LA 
PROPIEDAD INTELECTUAL NOTIFICADOS EN VIRTUD 
DEL PÁRRAFO 2 DEL ARTÍCULO 63 DEL ACUERDO 
Comunidades Europeas 
En el presente documento se reproduce el texto de la Directiva 96/9/CE del Parlamento Europeo 
y del Consejo, de 11 de marzo de 1996, sobre la protección jurídica de las bases de datos, notificada 
por las Comunidades Europeas en virtud del párrafo 2 del artículo 63 del Acuerdo. IP IN 11 IEECIC/2 
Page 2 
No L 77/20 Official Journal of the European Communities 27. 3. 96 
DIRECTIVE 9619/EC OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE 
COUNCIL 
of 11 March 1996 
on the legal protection of databases 
THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF 
THE EUROPEAN UNION, 
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European 
Community, and in particular Article 57 (2), 66 and 100a 
thereof, 
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission (1), 
Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and Social 
Committee (2), 
Acting in accordance with the procedure laid down in 
Article 189b of the Treaty (,), 
(1) 
(2) 
(3) 
(4) Whereas databases are at present not sufficiently 
protected in all Member States by existing legisla­
tion; whereas such protection, where it exists, has 
differen t attributes; 
Whereas such differences in the legal protection of 
databases offered by the legislation of the Member 
States have direct negative effects on the func­
tioning of the internal market as regards databases 
and in particular on the freedom of natural and 
legal persons to provide on-line database goods and 
services on the basis of harmonized legal arrange­
ments throughout the Community; whereas such 
differences could well become more pronounced as 
Member States introduce new legislation in this 
field, which is now taking on an increasingly inter­
national dimension; 
Whereas eXiSting differences distorting the func­
tioning of the internal market need to be removed 
and new ones prevented from arising, while diffe­
rences not adversely affecting the functioning of 
the internal market or the development of an infor­
mation market within the Community need not be 
removed or prevented from arising; 
Whereas copyright protection for databases exists 
in varying forms in the Member States according to 
(1) OJ No C 156, 23. 6. 1992, p. 4 and 
OJ No C 308, 15. 11. 1993, p. 1. 
e) OJ No C 19, 25. 1. 1993, ~. 3. 
(3) Opinion of the European Parliament of 23 June 1993 (OJ No 
C 194, 19.7. 1993, p. 144), Common Position of the Council 
of 10 July 1995 (OJ No C 288, 30.10.1995, p. 14), Decision 
of the European Parliament of 14 December 1995 (OJ No C 
17, 22 1. 1996) and Council Decision of 26 February 1996. (5) 
(6) legislation or case-law, and whereas, if differences 
in legislation in the scope and conditions of 
protection remain between the Member States, such 
unharmonized intellectual property rights can have 
the effect of preventing the free movement of 
goods or services within the Community; 
Whereas copyright remains an appropriate form of 
exclusive right for authors who have created data­
bases; 
Whereas, nevertheless, in the absence of a harmo­
nized system of unfair-competition legislation or of 
case-law, other measures are required in addition to 
prevent the unauthorized extraction and/or 
re-utilization of the contents of a database; 
(7) Whereas the making of databases requires the 
investment of considerable human, technical and 
financial resources while such databases can be 
copied or accessed at a fraction of the cost needed 
to design them independently; 
(8) Whereas the unauthorized extraction and/or 
re-utilization of the contents of a database consti­
tute acts which can have serious economic and 
technical consequences; 
(9) Whereas databases are a vital tool in the develop­
ment of an information market within the 
Community; whereas this tool will also be of use in 
many other fields; 
(10) Whereas the exponential growth, in the Commu­
nity and worldwide, in the amount of information 
generated and processed annually in all sectors of 
commerce and industry calls for investment in all 
the Member States in advanced information proces­
sing systems; 
(11) Whereas there is at present a very great imbalance 
in the level of investment in the database sector 
both as between the Member States and between 
the Community and the world's largest database­
producing third countries; 
(12) Whereas such an investment in modern informa­
tion storage and processing systems will not take 
place within the Community unless a stable and 
uniform legal protection regime is introduced for 
the protection of the rights of makers of databases; IP /N /1 IEEC/C/2 
Page 3 
27. 3. 96 Official Journal of the European Communities No L 77/21 
(13) 
(14) 
(15) 
(16) 
(17) 
(18) Whereas this Directive protects collections, some­
times called 'compilations', of works, data or other 
materials which are arranged, stored and accessed 
by means which include electronic, electromag­
netic or electro-optical processes or analogous 
processes; 
Whereas protection under this Directive should be 
extended to cover non-electronic databases; 
Whereas the criteria used to determine whether a 
database should be protected by copyright should 
be defined to the fact that the selection or the 
arrangement of the contents of the database is the 
author's own in tellectual creation; whereas such 
protection should cover the structure of the data­
base; 
Whereas no criterion other than originality in the 
sense of the author's intellectual creation should be 
applied to determine the eligibility of the database 
for copyright protection, and in particular no 
aesthetic or qualitative criteria should be applied; 
Whereas the term 'database' should be understood 
to include literary, artistic, musical or other collec­
tions of works or collections of other material such 
as texts, sound, images, numbers, facts, and data; 
whereas it should cover collections of independent 
works, data or other materials which are systemati­
cally or methodically arranged and can be individu­
ally accessed; whereas this means that a recording 
or an audiovisual, cinematographic, literary or 
musical work as such does not fall within the scope 
of this Directive; 
Whereas this Directive is without prejudice to the 
freedom of authors to decide whether, or in what 
manner, they will allow their works to be included 
in a database, in particular whether or not the 
authorization given is exclusive; whereas the 
protection of databases by the sui generis right is 
without prejudice to existing rights over their 
contents, and whereas in particular where an author 
or the holder of a related right permits some of his 
works or subject matter to be included in a data­
base pursuant to a non-exclusive agreement, a third 
party may make use of those works or subject 
matter subject to the required consent of the author 
or of the holder of the related right without the sui 
generis right of the maker of the database being 
invoked to prevent him doing so, on condition that 
those works or subject matter are neither extracted 
from the database nor re-utilized on the basis 
thereof; (19) Whereas, as a rule, the compilation of several recor­
dings of musical performances on a CD does not 
come within the scope of this Directive, both 
because, as a compilation, it does not meet the 
conditions for copyright protection and because it 
does not represent a substantial enough investment 
to be eligible under the sui generis right; 
(20) Whereas protection under this Directive may also 
apply to the materials necessary for the operation 
or consultation of certain databases such as 
thesaurus and indexation systems; 
(21) 
(22) 
(23) 
(24) Whereas the protection provided for in this Direc­
tive relates to databases in which works, data or 
other materials have been arranged systematically 
or methodically; whereas it is not necessary for 
those materials to have been physically stored in an 
organized manner; 
Whereas electronic databases within the meaning 
of this Directive may also include devices such as 
CD-ROM and CD-i; 
~rhereas the term 'database' should not be taken to 
extend to computer programs used in the making 
or operation of a database, which are protected by 
Council Directive 91/250/EEC of 14 May 1991 on 
the legal protection of computer programs (1); 
Whereas the rental and lending of databases in the 
field of copyright and related rights are governed 
exclusively by Council Directive 92/1 aa/EEC of 19 
November 1992 on rental right and lending right 
and on certain rights related to copyright in the 
field of intellectual property (l); 
(25) Whereas the term of copyright is already governed 
by Council Directive 93/98/EEC of 29 October 
1993 harmonizing the term of protection of copy­
right and certain related rights (3); 
(26) Whereas works protected by copyright and subject 
matter protected by related rights, which are incor­
porated into a database, remain nevertheless 
protected by the respective exclusive rights and 
may not be incorporated into, or extracted from, 
the database without the permission of the right­
holder or his successors in title; 
(27) Whereas copyright in such works and related rights 
in subject matter thus incorporated into a database 
C) OJ No L 122, 17.5.1991, p. 42. Directive as last amended by 
Directive 93/98/EEC (OJ No L 290, 24. 11. 1993, p. 9.) 
(l) OJ No L 346, 27. 11. 1992, p. 61. 
e) OJ No L 290, 24. 11. 1993, p. 9. IP IN 11 IEECIC/2 
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No L 77/22 Official Journal of the European Communities 27. 3. 96 
are in no way affected by the existence of a separate 
right in the selection or arrangement of these 
works and subject matter in a database; 
(28) Whereas the moral rights of the natural person who 
created the database belong to the author and 
should be exercised according to the legislation of 
the Member States and the provisions of the Berne 
Convention for the Protection of Literary and 
Artistic Works; whereas such moral rights remain 
outside the scope of this Directive; 
(29) Whereas the arrangements applicable to databases 
created by employees are left to the discretion of 
the Member States; whereas, therefore nothing in 
this Directive prevents Member States from stipul­
ating in their legislation that where a database is 
created by an employee in the execution of his 
duties or following the instructions given by his 
employer, the employer exclusively shall be 
entitled to exercise all economic rights in the data­
base so created, unless otherwise provided by 
contract; 
(30) Whereas the author's exclusive rights should 
include the right to determine the way in which 
his work is exploited and by whom, and in parti­
cular to control the distribution of his work to 
unauthorized persons; 
(31) Whereas the copyright protection of databases 
includes making databases available by means other 
than the distribution of copies; 
(32) Whereas Member States are required to ensure that 
their national provisions are at least materially 
equivalent in the case of such acts subject to 
restrictions as are provided for by this Directive; 
(33) Whereas the question of exhaustion of the right of 
distribution does not arise in the case of on-line 
databases, which come within the field of provision 
of services; whereas this also applies with regard to 
a material copy of such a database made by the 
user of such a service with the consent of the right­
holder; whereas, unlike CD-ROM or CD-i, where 
the intellectual property is incorporated in a mate­
rial medium, namely an item of goods, every 
on-line service is in fact an act which will have to 
be subject to authorization where the copyright so 
provides; 
(34) Whereas, nevertheless, once the rightholder has 
chosen to make available a copy of the database to a user, whether by an on-line service or by other 
means of distribution, that lawful user must be able 
to access and use the database for the purposes and 
in the way set out in the agreement with the right­
holder, even if such access and use necessitate 
performance of otherwise restricted acts; 
(35) Whereas a list should be drawn up of exceptions to 
restricted acts, taking into account the fact that 
copyright as covered by this Directive applies only 
to the selection or arrangements of the contents of 
a database; whereas Member States should be given 
the option of providing for such exceptions in 
certain cases; whereas, however, this option should 
be exercised in accordance with the Berne Conven­
tion and to the extent that the exceptions relate to I 
the structure of the database; whereas a distinction 
should be drawn between exceptions for private use 
and exceptions for reproduction for private 
purposes, which concerns provisions under national 
legislation of some Member States on levies on 
blank media or recording equipment; 
(36) Whereas the term 'scientific research' within the 
meaning of this Directive covers both the natural 
sciences and the human sciences; 
(37) Whereas Article 10 (1) of the Berne Convention is 
not affected by this Directive; 
(38) Whereas the increasing use of digital recording 
technology exposes the database maker to the risk 
that the contents of his database may be copied 
and rearranged electronically, without his author­
ization, to produce a database of identical content 
which, however, does not infringe any copyright in 
the arrangement of his database; 
(39) Whereas, in addition to aiming to protect the copy­
right in the original selection or arrangement of the 
contents of a database, this Directive seeks to safe­
guard the position of makers of databases against 
misappropriation of the results of the financial and 
professional investment made in obtaining and 
collection the contents by protecting the whole or 
substantial parts of a database against certain acts 
by a user or competitor; 
(40) Whereas the object of this sui generis right is to 
ensure protection of any investment in obtaining, 
verifying or presenting the contents of a database 
for the limited duration of the right; whereas such 
investment may consist in the deployment of 
financial resources and/or the expending of time, 
effort and energy; IP IN 11 IEEC/C/2 
Page 5 
27. 3. 96 Official Journal of the European Communities No L 77/23 
(41) Whereas the objective of the sui generis right is to 
give the maker of a database the option of pre­
venting the unauthorized extraction and/or 
re-utilization of all or a substantial part of the 
contents of that database; whereas the maker of a 
database is the person who takes the initiative and 
the risk of investing; whereas this excludes subcon­
tractors in particular from the definition of maker; 
(42) Whereas the special right to ,prevent unauthorized 
extraction and/or re-utilization relates to acts by the 
user which go beyond his legitimate rights and 
thereby harm the investment; whereas the right to 
prohibit extraction and/or re-utilization of all or a 
substantial part of the contents relates not only to 
the manufacture of a parasitical competing product 
but also to any user who, through his acts, causes 
significant detriment, evaluated qualitatively or 
quantitatively, to the investment; 
(43) Whereas, in the case of on-line transmISSIOn, the 
right to prohibit re-utilization is not exhausted 
either as regards the database or as regards a mate­
rial copy of the database or of part thereof made by 
the addressee of the transmission with the consent 
of the rightholder; 
(44) Whereas, when on-screen display of the contents of 
a database necessitates the permanent or temporary 
transfer of all or a substantial part of such contents 
to another medium, that act should be subject to 
authorization by the rightholder; 
(45) Whereas the right to prevent unauthorized extrac­
tion and/or re-utilization does not in any way 
constitute an extension of copyright protection to 
mere facts or data; 
(46) Whereas the existence of a right to prevent the 
unauthorized extraction and/or re-utilization of the 
whole or a substantial part of works, data or mate­
rials from a database should not give rise to the 
creation of a new right in the works, data or mate­
rials themselves; 
(47) Whereas, in the interests of competition between 
suppliers of information products and services, 
protection by the sut" generis right must not be 
afforded in such a way as to facilitate abuses of a 
dominant position, in particular as regards the crea­
tion and ditribution of new products and services 
which have an intellectual, documentary, technical, 
economic or commercial added value; whereas, 
therefore, the provisions of this Directive are without prejudice to the application of Community 
or national competition rules; 
(48) Whereas the objective of this Directive, which is to 
afford an appropriate and uniform level of protec­
tion of databases as a means to secure the remun­
eration of the maker of the database, is different 
from the aim of Directive 95/46/EC of the Euro­
pean Parliament and of the Council of 24 October 
1995 on the protection of individuals with regard 
to the processing of personal data and on the free 
movement of such data n, which is to guarantee 
free circulation of personal data on the basis of 
harmonized rules designed to protect fundamental 
rights, notably the right to privacy which is recog­
nized in Article 8 of the European Convention for 
the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental 
Freedoms; whereas the provisions of this Directive 
are without prejudice to data protection legislation; 
(49) Whereas, notwithstanding the right to prevent 
extraction and/or re-utilization of all or a substan­
tial part of a database, it should be laid down that 
the maker of a database or rightholder may not 
prevent a lawful user of the database from extrac­
ting and re-utilizing insubstantial parts; whereas, 
however, that user may not unreasonably prejudice 
either the legitimate interests of the holder of the 
std generis right or the holder of copyright or a 
related right in respect of the works or subject 
matter contained in the database; 
(50) Whereas the Member States should be given the 
option of providing for exceptions to the right to 
prevent the unauthorized extraction and/or 
re-utilization of a substantial part of the contents of 
a database in the case of extraction for private 
purposes, for the purposes of illustration for 
teaching or scientific research, or where extraction 
and/or re-utilization are/is carried out in the inte­
rests of public security or for the purposes of an 
administrative or judicial procedure; whereas such 
operations must not prejudice the exclusive rights 
of the maker to exploit the database and their 
purpose must not be commercial; 
(51) Whereas the Member States, where they avail 
themselves of the option to permit a lawful user of 
a database to extract a substantial part of the 
contents for the purposes of illustration for 
teaching or scientific research, may limit that 
permission to certain categories of teaching or 
scientific research institution; 
(I) OJ No L 281, 23. 11. 1995, p. 31. IP IN 11 IEEC/C/2 
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No L 77/24 Official Journal of the European Communities 27. 3. 96 
(52) Whereas those Member States which have specific 
rules providing for a right comparable to the sui 
generis right provided for in this Directive should 
be permitted to retain, as far as the new right is 
concerned, the exceptions traditionally specified by 
such rules; 
(53) Whereas the burden of proof regarding the date of 
completion of the making of a database lies with 
the maker of the database; 
(54) Whereas the burden of proof that the criteria exist 
for concluding that a substantial modification of 
the contents of a database is to be regarded as a 
substantial new investment lies with the maker of 
the database resulting from such investment; 
(55) Whereas a substantial new investment involving a 
new term of protection may include a substantial 
verification of the con tents of the database; 
(56) Whereas the right to prevent unauthorized extrac­
tion and/or re-utilization in respect of a database 
should apply to databases whose makers are 
nationals or habitual residents of third countries or 
to those produced by legal persons not established 
in a Member State, within the meaning of the 
Treaty, only if such third countries offer compa­
rable protection to databases produced by nationals 
of a Member State or persons who have their habi­
tual residence in the territory of the Community; 
(57) Whereas, in addition to remedies provided under 
the legislation of the Member States for infringe­
ments of copyright or other rights, Member States 
should provide for appropriate remedies against 
unauthorized extraction and/or re-utilization of the 
contents of a database; 
(58) Whereas, in addition to the protection given under 
this Directive to the structure of the database by 
copyright, and to its contents against unauthorized 
extraction and/or re-utilization under the SlIi 
generis right, other legal provisions in the Member 
States relevant to the supply of database goods and 
services continue to apply; 
(59) Whereas this Directive is without prejudice to the 
application to databases composed of audiovisual 
works of any rules recognized by a Member State's 
legislation concerning the broadcasting of audio­
visual programmes; 
(60) Whereas some Member States currently protect 
under copyright arrangements databases which do 
not meet the criteria for eligibility for copyright protection laid down in this Directive; whereas, 
even if the data bases concerned are eligible for 
protection under the right laid down in this Direc­
tive to prevent unauthorized extraction and/or 
re-utilization of their contents, the term of protec­
tion under that right is considerably shorter than 
that which they enjoy under the national arrange­
ments currently in force; whereas harmonization of 
the criteria for determining whether a database is to 
be protected by copyright may not have the effect 
of reducing the term of protection currently 
enjoyed by the rightholders concerned; whereas a 
derogation should be laid down to that effect; 
whereas the effects of such derogation must be 
confined to the territories of the Member States 
concerned, 
HAVE ADOPTED THIS DIRECflVE: 
CHAPTER I 
SCOPE 
Article 1 
Scope 
1. This Directive concerns the legal protection of data-
bases in any form. 
2. For the purposes of this Directive, 'database' shall 
mean a collection of independent works, data' or other 
materials arranged in a systematic or methodical way and 
individually accessible by electronic or other means. 
3. Protection under this Directive shall not apply to 
computer programs used in the making or operation of 
databases accessible by electronic means. 
Article 2 
Limitations on the scope 
This Directive shall apply without prejudice to Commun­
ity provisions relating to: 
(a) the legal protection of computer programs; 
(b) rental right, lending right and certain rights related to 
copyright in the field of intellectual property; 
(c) the term of protection of copyright and certain related 
rights. IP IN 11 IEEC/C/2 
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27. 3. 96 Official Journal of the European Communities No L 77/25 
CHAPTER 11 
COPYRIGHT 
Article 3 
Object of protection 
1. In accordance with this Directive, databases which, 
by reason of the selection or arrangement of their 
contents, constitute the author's own intellectual creation 
shall be protected as such by copyright. No other criteria 
shall be applied to determine their eligibility for that 
protection. 
2. The copyright protection of databases provided for 
by this Directive shall not extend to their contents and 
shall be without prejudice to any rights subsisting in 
those contents themselves. 
Article 4 
Database authorship 
1. The author of a database shall be the natural person 
or group of natural persons who created the base or, 
where the legislation of the Member States so permits, the 
legal person designated as the rightholder by that legisla­
tion. 
2. Where collective works are recognized by the legis­
lation of a Member State, the economic rights shall be 
owned by the person holding the copyright. 
3. In respect of a database created by a group of natural 
persons jointly, the exclusive rights shall be owned jointly. 
Article 5 
Restricted acts 
In respect of the expression of the database which is 
protectable by copyright, the author of a database shall 
have the exclusive right to carry out or to authorize: 
(a) temporary or permanent reproduction by any means 
and in any form, in whole or in part; 
(b) translation, adaptation, arrangement and any other 
alteration; 
(c) any form of distribution to the public of the database 
or of copies thereof. The first sale in the Community 
of a copy of the database by the rightholder or with 
his consent shall exhaust the right to control resale of 
that copy within the Community; 
(d) any communication, display or performance to the 
public; (e) any reproduction, distribution, communication, 
display or performance to the public of the results of 
the acts referred to in (b). 
Article 6 
Exceptions to restricted acts 
1. The performance by the lawful user of a database or 
of a copy thereof of any of the acts listed in Article 5 
which is necessary for the purposes of access to the 
contents of the databases and normal use of the contents 
by the lawful user shall not require the authorization of 
the author of the database. \X'here the lawful user is 
authorized to use only part of the database, this provision 
shall apply only to that part. 
2. Member States shall have the option of providing for 
limitations on the rights set out in Article 5 in the 
following cases: 
(a) in the case of reproduction for private purposes of a 
non-electronic database; 
(b) where there is use for the sole purpose of illustration 
for teaching or scientific research, as long as the 
source is indicated and to the extent justified by the 
non-commercial purpose to be achieved; 
(c) where there is use for the purposes of public security 
of for the purposes of an administrative or judicial 
procedure; 
(d) where other exceptions to copyright which are tradi­
tionally authorized under national law are involved, 
without prejudice to points (a), (b) and (c). 
3. In accordance with the Berne Convention for the 
protection of Literary and Artistic Works, this Article may 
not be interpreted in such a way as to allow its applica­
tion to be used in a manner which unreasonably pre­
judices the rightholder's legitimate interests or conflicts 
with normal exploitation of the database. 
CHAPTER III 
SUI GENERIS RIGHT 
Article 7 
Object of protection 
1. Member States shall provide for a right for the 
maker of a database which shows that there has been 
qualitatively and/or quantitatively a substantial investment 
in either the obtaining, verification or presentation of the 
contents to prevent extraction and/or re-utilization of the 
whole or of a substantial part, evaluated qualitatively 
and/or quantitatively, of the contents of that database. IP IN 11 IEEC/C/2 
Page e 
No L 77/26 Official Journal of the European Communities 27. 3. 96 
2. For the purposes of this Chapter: 
(a) 'extraction' shall mean the permanent or temporary 
transfer of all or a substantial part of the contents of a 
database to another medium by any means or in any 
form; 
(b) 're-utilization' shall mean any form of making 
available to the public all or a substantial part of the 
contents of a database by the distribution of copies, by 
renting, by on-line or other forms of transmission. 
The first sale of a copy of a database within the 
Community by the rightholder or with his consent 
shall exhaust the right to control resale of that copy 
within the Community; 
Public lending is not an act of extraction or re-utilization. 
3. The right referred to in paragraph 1 may be trans-
ferred, assigned or granted under contractual licence. 
4. The right provided for in paragraph 1 shall apply 
irrespective of the eligibility of that database for protec­
tion by copyright or by other rights. Moreover, it shall 
apply irrespective of eligibility of the contents of that 
database for protection by copyright or by other rights. 
Protection of databases under the right provided for in 
paragraph 1 shall be without prejudice to rights existing 
in respect of their contents. 
5. The repeated and systematic extraction and/or 
re-utilization of insubstantial parts of the contents of the 
database implying acts which conflict with a normal 
exploitation of that database or which unreasonably preju­
dice the legitimate interests of the maker of the database 
shall not be permitted. 
Article 8 
Rights and obligations of lawful users 
1. The maker of a database which is made available to 
the public in whatever manner may not prevent a lawful 
user of the database from extracting and/or re-utilizing 
insubstantial parts of its contents, evaluated qualitatively 
and/or quantitatively, for any purposes whatsoever. Where 
the lawful user is authorized to extract and/or re-utilize 
only part of the database, this paragraph shall apply only 
to that part. 
2. A lawful user of a database which is made available 
to the public in whatever manner may not perform acts 
which conflict with normal exploitation of the database or 
unreasonably prejudice the legitimate interests of the 
maker of the database. 
3. A lawful user of a database which is made available 
to the public in any manner may not cause prejudice to the holder of a copyright or related right in respect of the 
works or subject matter contained in the database. 
Article 9 
Exceptions to the sui genens right 
Member States may stipulate that lawful users of a data­
base which is made available to the public in whatever 
manner may, without the authorization of its maker, 
extract or re-utilize a substantial part of its contents: 
(a) in the case of extraction for private purposes of the 
contents of a non-electronic database; 
(b) in the case of extraction for the purposes of illustra­
tion for teaching or scientific research, as long as the 
source is indicated and to the extent justified by the 
non-commercial purpose to be achieved; 
(c) in the case of extraction and/or re-utilization for the 
purposes of public security or an administrative or 
judicial procedure. 
Article 10 
Term of protection 
1. The right provided for in Article 7 shall run from 
the date of completion of the making of the database. It 
shall expire fifteen years from the first of January of the 
year following the date of completion. . 
2. In the case of a database which is made available to 
the public in whatever manner before expiry of the period 
provided for in paragraph 1, the term of protection by 
that right shall expire fifteen years from the first of 
January of the year following the date when the database 
was first made available to the public. 
3. Any substantial change, evaluated qualitatively or 
quantitatively, to the contents of a database, including any 
substantial change resulting from the accumulation of 
successive additions, deletions or alterations, which would 
result in the database being considered to be a substantial 
new investment, evaluated qualitatively or quantitatively, 
shall qualify the database resulting from that investment 
for its own term of protection. 
Article 11 
Beneficiaries of protection under the sui geneds 
right 
1. The right provided for in Article 7 shall apply to 
database whose makers or rightholders are nationals of a 
Member State or who have their habitual residence in the 
territory of the Community. IP IN 11 IEEC/C/2 
Page 9 
27. 3. 96 Official Journal of the European Communities No L 77/27 
2. Paragraph 1 shall also apply to companies and firms 
formed in accordance with the law of a f>.fember State and 
having their registered office, central administration or 
principal place of business within the Community; 
however, where such a company or firm has only its regis­
tered office in the territory of the Community, its opera­
tions must be genuinely linked on an ongoing basis with 
the economy of a Member State. 
3. Agreements extending the right provided for in 
Article 7 to databases made in third countries and falling 
outside the provisions of paragraphs 1 and 2 shall be 
concluded by the Council acting on a proposal from the 
Commission. The term of any protection extended to 
databases by virtue of that procedure shall not exceed that 
available pursuant to Article 10. 
CHAPTER IV 
COMMON PROVISIONS 
Article 12 
Remedies 
Member States shall provide appropriate remedies in 
respect of infringements of the rights provided for in this 
Directive. 
Article 13 
Continued application of other legal provisions 
This Directive shall be without prejudice to provisions 
concerning in particular copyright, rights related to copy­
right or any other rights or obligations subsisting in the 
data, works or other materials incorporated into a data­
base, patent rights, trade marks, design rights, the protec­
tion of national treasures, laws on restrictive practices and 
unfair competition, trade secrets, security, confidentiality, 
data protection and privacy, access to public documents, 
and the law of contract. 
Article 14 
Application over time 
1. Protection pursuant to this Directive as regards 
copyright shall also be available in respect of data bases 
created prior to the date referred to Article 16 (1) which 
on that date fulfil the requirements laid down in this 
Directive as regards copyright protection of databases. 
2. Notwithstanding paragraph 1, where a database 
protected under copyright arrangements in a Member 
State on the date of publication of this Directive does not 
fulfil the eligibility criteria for copyright protection laid 
down in Article 3 (1), this Directive shall not result ir. any curtailing in that Member State of the remaining term of 
protection afforded under those arrangements. 
3. Protection pursuant to the provisions of this Direc­
tive as regards the right provided for in Article 7 shall also 
be available in respect of databases the making of which 
was completed not more than fifteen years prior to the 
date referred to in Article 16 (1) and which on that date 
fulfil the requirements laid down in Article 7. 
4. The protection provided for in paragraphs 1 and 3 
shall be without prejudice to any acts concluded and 
rights acquired before the date referred to in those para­
graphs. 
5. In the case of a database the making of which was 
completed not more than fifteen years prior to the date 
referred to in Article 16 (1), the term of protection by the 
right provided for in Article 7 shall expire fifteen years 
from the first of January following that date. 
Article 15 
Binding nature of certain provisions 
Any contractual provision contrary to Articles 6 (1) and 8 
shall be null and void. 
Article 16 
Final provisions 
1. Member States shall bring into force the laws, regu­
lations and administrative provisions necessary to comply 
with this Directive before 1 January 1998. 
When Member States adopt these provisions, they shall 
contain a reference to this Directive or shall be accom­
panied by such reference on the occasion of their official 
publication. The methods of making such reference shall 
be laid down by Member States. 
2. Member States shall communicate to the Commis­
sion the text of the provisions of domestic law which they 
adopt in the field governed by this Directive. 
3. Not later than at the end of the third year after the 
date refered to in paragraph 1, and every three years 
thereafter, the Commission shall submit to the European 
Parliament, the Council and the Economic and Social 
Committee a report on the application of this Directive, 
in which, inter alia, on the basis of specific information 
supplied by the Member States, it shall examine in parti­
cular the application of the sui generis right, including 
Articles 8 and 9, and shall verify especially whether the 
application of this right has led to abuse of a dominant 
position or other interference with free competition 
which would justify appropriate measures being taken, 
including the establishment of non-voluntary licensing 
arrangements. Where necessary, it shall submit proposals 
for adjustment of this Directive in line with developments 
in the area of databases. IP IN 11 IEEe/e/2 
Page 10 
No L 77/28 Official Journal of the European Communities 
Article 17 
This Directive is addressed to the Member States. 
Done at Strasbourg, 11 March 1996. 
For tbe European Parliament 
The President 
K. HANSCH For the Council 
The President 
1. DINI 27. 3. 96