CELEX: C2002/180/23
Language: en
Date: 2002-07-27 00:00:00
Title: Case C-203/02: Reference for a preliminary ruling by the Court of Appeal (England and Wales) (Civil Division), by order of that court dated 24 May 2002, in the case of 1) The British Horseracing Board Limited, 2) The Jockey Club and 3) Weatherbys Group Limited against William Hill Organization Limited

C 180/14              EN                     Official Journal of the European Communities                                       27.7.2002
Reference for a preliminary ruling by the Court of Appeal               (7) Is ‘extraction’ in Article 7 of the Directive limited to the
(England and Wales) (Civil Division), by order of that                        transfer of the contents of the database directly from the
court dated 24 May 2002, in the case of 1) The British                        database to another medium, or does it also include the
Horseracing Board Limited, 2) The Jockey Club and                             transfer of works, data or other materials, which are
3) Weatherbys Group Limited against William Hill Organ-                       derived indirectly from the database, without having
                         ization Limited                                      direct access to the database?
                        (Case C-203/02)                                 (8) Is ‘re-utilisation’ in Article 7 of the Directive limited to
                                                                              the making available to the public of the contents of the
                                                                              database directly from the database, or does it also include
                        (2002/C 180/23)                                       the making available to the public of works, data or other
                                                                              materials which are derived indirectly from the database,
                                                                              without having direct access to the database?
Reference has been made to the Court of Justice of the
                                                                        (9) Is ‘re-utilisation’ in Article 7 of the Directive limited to
European Communities by an order of the Court of Appeal
                                                                              the first making available to the public of the contents of
(England and Wales) (Civil Division) dated 24 May 2002,
                                                                              the database?
which was received at the Court Registry on 31 May 2002, for
a preliminary ruling in the case of 1) The British Horseracing
Board Limited, 2) The Jockey Club and 3) Weatherbys Group               (10) In Article 7(5) of the Directive what is meant by ‘acts
Limited against William Hill Organization Limited, on the                     which conflict with a normal exploitation of that database
following questions:                                                          or unreasonably prejudice the legitimate interests of the
                                                                              maker of the database’? In particular, are the facts and
(1) May either of the expressions:                                            matters in paragraphs 40-47 above in the context of the
                                                                              facts and matters in paragraphs 32-35 above capable of
     (a)  ‘substantial part of the contents of the database’; or              amounting to such acts?
     (b) ‘insubstantial parts of the contents of the database’          (11) Does Article 10(3) of the Directive mean that, whenever
                                                                              there is a ‘substantial change’ to the contents of a
     in Article 7 of the Directive (1) include works, data or                 database, qualifying the resulting database for its own
     other materials derived from the database but which do                   term of protection, the resulting database must be
     not have the same systematic or methodical arrangement                   considered to be a new, separate database, including for
     of and individual accessibility to be found in the database?             the purposes of Article 7(5)?
(2) What is meant by ‘obtaining’ in Article 7(1) of the
     Directive? In particular, are the facts and matters in             (1) Directive 96/9/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council
                                                                            of 11 March 1996 on the legal protection of databases. OJ L 77,
     paragraphs 24-31 above capable of amounting to such
                                                                            27.3.1996, p. 20.
     obtaining?
(3) Is ‘verification’ in Article 7(1) of the Directive limited to
     ensuring from time to time that information contained in
     a database is or remains correct?
(4) What is meant in Article 7(1) of the Directive, by the
     expressions:
                                                                        Action brought on 4 June 2002 by the Commission of the
     (a)  ‘a substantial part, evaluated qualitatively ... of the
                                                                        European Communities against the United Kingdom of
          contents of that database’? and
                                                                                      Great Britain and Northern Ireland
     (b) ‘a substantial part, evaluated quantitatively ... of the
          contents of that database’?                                                            (Case C-210/02)
(5) What is meant in Article 7(5) of the Directive, by the
     expression ‘insubstantial parts of the database’?                                           (2002/C 180/24)
(6) In particular, in each case:
     (a)  does ‘substantial’ mean something more than ‘insig-           An action against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and
          nificant’ and, if so, what?                                   Northern Ireland was brought before the Court of Justice of the
                                                                        European Communities on 4 June 2002 by the Commission of
     (b) does ‘insubstantial’ part simply mean that it is not           the European Communities, represented by Thomas Cusack,
          ‘substantial’?                                                acting as agent, with an address for service in Luxembourg.