TITLE I—COMMERCE IN DUPLI-
CATED DATABASES PROHIB-
ITED
SEC. 101. DEFINITIONS.
As used in this title:
(1) DATABASE.—The term ‘‘database’’ means a
collection of discrete items of information that have
been collected and organized in a single place, or in
such a way as to be accessible through a single
source, through the investment of substantial mone-
tary or other resources, for the purpose of providing
access to those discrete items of information by
users of the database. However, a discrete section of
a database that contains multiple discrete items of
information may also be treated as a database.
(2) DUPLICATE OF A DATABASE.—A database
is ‘‘a duplicate’’ of any other database if the data-
base is substantially the same as such other data-
base, and was made by extracting information from
such other database.
(3) INFORMATION.—The term ‘‘information’’
means facts, data, or any other intangible material
capable of being collected and organized in a system-
atic way, with the exception of works of authorship.
(4) COMMERCE.—The term ‘‘commerce’’ means
all commerce which may be lawfully regulated by the
Congress.
(5) IN COMPETITION.—The term ‘‘in competi-
tion with’’ when used with respect to the sale or dis-
tribution of a database to the public means that the
database—
(A) displaces substantial sales or licenses
of the database of which it is a duplicate; and
(B) significantly threatens the opportunity
to recover a return on the investment in the col-
lecting or organizing of the duplicated database.
(6) GOVERNMENT DATABASE.—The term ‘‘gov-
ernment database’’ means a database that—
(A) has been collected or maintained by
the United States of America, or any agency or
instrumentality thereof; or
(B) is required by Federal statute or regu-
lation to be collected or maintained, to the ex-
tent so required.
SEC. 102. PROHIBITION AGAINST DISTRIBUTION OF DUPLI-
CATES.
It is unlawful for any person, by any means or instru-
mentality of interstate or foreign commerce or commu-
nications, to sell or distribute to the public a database
that—
(1) is a duplicate of another database that was
collected and organized by another person; and
(2) is sold or distributed in commerce in com-
petition with that other database.
SEC. 103. PERMITTED ACTS.
(a) COLLECTING
OR USE
OF INFORMATION OB-
TAINED THROUGH OTHER MEANS.—Nothing in this title
shall restrict any person from selling or distributing to the
public a database consisting of information obtained by
means other than by extracting it from a database col-
lected and organized by another person.
(b) NEWS REPORTING.—Nothing in this title shall
restrict any person from selling or distributing to the pub-
lic a duplicate of a database for the sole purpose of news
reporting, including news gathering and dissemination, or
comment, unless the information duplicated is time sen-
sitive and has been collected by a news reporting entity,
and the sale or distribution is part of a consistent pattern
engaged in for the purpose of direct competition.
(c) LAW ENFORCEMENT AND INTELLIGENCE ACTIVI-
TIES.—Nothing in this title shall prohibit an officer,
agent, or employee of the United States, a State, or a po-
litical subdivision of a State, or a person acting under con-
tract of such officers, agents or employees, from selling
or distributing to the public a duplicate of a database as
part of lawfully authorized investigative, protective, or in-
telligence activities.
(d) SCIENTIFIC, EDUCATIONAL, 
OR
RESEARCH
USES.—No person or entity who for scientific, edu-
cational, or research purposes duplicates the same infor-
mation that has been collected or generated by another
person or entity shall incur liability under this title so long
as such conduct is not part of a consistent pattern en-
gaged in for the purpose of direct commercial competition
with that other person.
SEC. 104. EXCLUSIONS.
(a) GOVERNMENT INFORMATION.—
(1) 
EXCLUSION
OF
GOVERNMENT
DATA-
BASES.—Protection under section 102 shall not ex-
tend to government databases.
(2) INCORPORATED
NONGOVERNMENT
POR-
TIONS PROTECTED.—The incorporation of all or part
of a government database into a non-government
database does not preclude protection for the por-
tions of the non-government database which came
from a source other than the government database.
(3) AUTHORITY TO EXCLUDE ADDITIONAL GOV-
ERNMENT-SUPPORTED DATABASES.—Nothing in this
title shall prevent the Federal Government or a
State or local government from establishing by law
or contract that a database, the creation or mainte-
nance of which is substantially funded by such Fed-
eral, State, or local government, shall not be subject
to the protection afforded under this title.
(b) DATABASES RELATED TO INTERNET COMMU-
NICATIONS.—Protection under section 102 does not ex-
tend to a database incorporating information collected or
organized—
(1) to perform the function of addressing, rout-
ing, forwarding, transmitting, or storing Internet
communications; or
(2) to perform the function of providing or re-
ceiving connections for Internet communications.
(c) COMPUTER PROGRAMS.—
(1) PROTECTION NOT EXTENDED.—Subject to
paragraph (2), protection under section 102 shall
not extend to computer programs, including any
computer program used in the manufacture, produc-
tion, operation, or maintenance of a database, or
any element of a computer program necessary to its
operation.
(2) INCORPORATED
DATABASES.—A database
that is otherwise subject to protection under section