Source: http://cryptome.org/cartome/nrc-db-app.htm
Timestamp: 2019-03-20 23:20:15
Document Index: 736414830

Matched Legal Cases: ['sui generis', 'sui generis', 'sui generis', 'sui generis', 'sui generis', 'sui generis', 'sui generis', 'sui generis', 'sui generis', 'art.\n2']

NRC: Private Rights and the Public Interest in Scientific and Technical Databases
Source: http://books.nap.edu/html/question_balance/index.html
Private Rights and the Public Interest
in Scientific and Technical Databases
Return to Title Page - through - Summary
Return to Chapters 1-4
C Workshop Proceedings--Listing of Contents
D European Union Directive on the Legal Protection of Databases
I. TROTTER HARDY is professor of law at the College of William & Mary School of Law, where he specializes in intellectual property law, law and computers, and tort law. He recently wrote a major report, "Sketching the Future of Copyright in a Networked World," for the Copyright Office and has published extensively on issues relating to intellectual property law in the digital environment. Mr. Hardy holds a BA from the University of Virginia, an MS from American University, and a JD from Duke University, Order of the Coif.
MARK STEFIK is a principal scientist at the Xerox Palo Alto Research Center, where he focuses on trusted system approaches for creating, protecting, and reusing digital property in the network context. His current and past research activities include research on reasoning with constraints, and paradigms of programming, as well as applications of artificial intelligence and computer science to problems in molecular genetics, VLSI circuit design, configuration of computer systems, and systems for supporting collaborative processes in work groups. Dr. Stefik's book, Internet Dreams: Archetypes, Myths, and Metaphors, was published by MIT Press in 1996. Dr. Stefik received his BS and PhD from Stanford University.
8:30 A. Introductory remarks
Robert Serafin, Study Chair
Commissioner of Patents and Trademarks (Acting), Department of Commerce
B. Summary of S&T databases to be discussed at the workshop
9:00 Geographic Data Panel
Moderator: Harlan Onsrud, Associate Professor, University of Maine
Government-sector data activity: Barbara Ryan, Associate Director for Operations, U.S. Geological Survey, Department of the Interior
Not-for-profit sector data activity: James Brunt, Associate Director for Information Management, Long-Term Ecological Research Network Office, University of New Mexico1
Commercial-sector data activity: Barry Glick, former President and CEO, GeoSystems Global Corp.
9:45 Genomic Data Panel
Moderator: Philip Loftus, Vice President and Director, Glaxo Wellcome
10:45 Chemical and Chemical Engineering Data Panel
Moderator: Roberta Saxon, Patent Agent, Skjerven, Morrill, MacPherson, et al.
11:30 Meteorological Data Panel
Not-for-profit-sector data activity: David Fulker, Director, Unidata Program, University Corporation for Atmospheric
1:15 C. Economic factors in production/dissemination/use of S&T databases in the public and private sectors
2:15 D. Overview of technologies for protecting and misappropriating digital IPR: the current situation and future prospects
3:00 E.1 Summary overview of existing and proposed IPR regimes for databases
Moderator: Harvey Perlman, Professor, College of Law, University of Nebraska
Speaker: Marybeth Peters, Register of Copyrights, Library of Congress
3:45 E.2 Summary of federal government information law and data policies
Speaker: Justin Hughes, Attorney, Patent and Trademark Office, Department of Commerce
4:00 F. Breakout sessions on the existing legal and technical situation
4:15 Individual breakout sessions
1) Government-sector data panel
Moderator: Shelton Alexander, Professor, Pennsylvania State University
Rapporteur: Suzanne Scotchmer, Professor, UC Berkeley
Barbara Ryan, Associate Director of Operations, U.S. Geological Survey
James Ostell, Chief, Information Engineering Branch, National Center for Biotechnology Information, NLM/NIH
Richard Kayser, Chief, Physical and Chemical Properties Division, National Institute of Standards and Technology
Kenneth Hadeen, Director (retired), National Climatic Data Center
2) Not-for-profit-sector data panel
Moderator: Maureen Kelly, Vice President for Planning, BIOSIS
Rapporteur: Jerome Reichman, Professor, Vanderbilt University School of Law
James Brunt, Associate Director for Information Management, Long-Term Ecological Research Network Office, University of New Mexico2
Chris Overton, Director, Center for Bioinformatics, University of Pennsylvania
James Lohr, Director, Information Industry Relations, Chemical Abstracts Service, American Chemical Society
David Fulker, Director, Unidata Program, UCAR
3) Commercial-sector data panel
Rapporteur: Mark Stefik, Principal Scientist, Xerox PARC
Barry Glick, former President and CEO, GeoSystems Global Corp.
Myra Williams, President and CEO, Molecular Applications Group
Leslie Singer, President, ISI, Inc.
Robert Brammer, Vice President and Chief Technology Officer, TASC
5:45 - 6:45pm Reception
8:30 G. Summary reports by rapporteurs from previous day's breakouts
9:20 H. Instructions by workshop chair and move to breakout rooms
9:30 I. Breakout sessions
Session 1: Congress decides to enact a strong property rights model protecting databases
Moderator: Paul Uhlir, Study Director, National Research Council
Rapporteur: Peter Leavitt, Consultant
Ken Hadeen, Director (retired), National Climatic Data Center
Jon Baumgarten, Attorney, Proskauer Rose LLP
Peter Jaszi, Professor, American University School of Law
James Neal, Director, Johns Hopkins University Library
Ferris Webster, Professor, University of Delaware
Session 2: Congress decides to enact an unfair competition model protecting databases
Rapporteur: Philip Loftus, Vice President and Director, Glaxo Wellcome
Dennis Benson, Chief Information Resources Branch, National Center for Biotechnology Information, NLM/NIH
Michael Klipper, Attorney, Meyer & Klipper, PLLC
Jonathan Band, Attorney, Morrison & Foerster, LLP
Thomas Rindfleisch, Director, Medical Library, Stanford University
Session 3: Promoting access to and use of government S&T data for the public interest--an assessment of legal and policy options
Rapporteur: Shelton Alexander, Professor, Pennsylvania State University
Barbara Ryan, Associate Director for Operations, U.S. Geological Survey3
James Brunt, Associate Director for Information Management, Long-Term Ecological Research Network Office, University of New Mexico4
Peter Weiss, Senior Policy Analyst, Office of Management and Budget5
Prue Adler, Assistant Executive Director, Federal Relations and Information Policy, Association of Research Libraries
Eric Massant, Director of Government and Industry Affairs, Reed Elsevier, Inc.
Tim Foresman, Director, Spatial Analysis Lab, University of Maryland
Session 4: Promoting access to and use of not-for-profit-sector S&T data for the public interest--an assessment of legal and policy options
Moderator: Martha Williams, Professor and Director, Information Retrieval Research Lab, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Rapporteur: Roberta Saxon, Patent Agent, Skjerven, Morrill, MacPherson et al.
Richard Kayser, Chief, Physical and Chemical Properties Division, NIST
Allan Adler, Vice President for Governmental and Legislative Affairs, Association of American Publishers, Inc.6
Jerome Reichman, Professor, Vanderbilt University School of Law
R. Stephen Berry, Professor, University of Chicago
11:00 Breakout session discussions (continued)
1:45 J. Rapporteurs' summary of breakout panel results
2:45 Discussion of results with workshop participants
3:45 K. Concluding remarks
Robert Serafin, Chair
4:00pm End of public workshop
1 Dr. Brunt was unable to attend the workshop due to illness.
2 Dr. Brunt was unable to attend the workshop due to illness.
3 Ms. Ryan was unable to attend this session due to inclement weather.
4 Dr. Brunt was unable to attend the workshop due to illness.
5 Mr. Weiss was unable to attend this session due to inclement weather.
6 Mr. Adler was unable to attend this session due to inclement weather.
Allan Adler,
Prue Adler,
Shelton Alexander,
(affiliation unknown)
Mary Baish,
Winona Barker,
Ed Barron,
Barbara Bauldock,
Jon Baumgarten,
Dennis Benson,
Robert Brammer,
Francis Buckley, Jr.,
Kathy Covert,
Karen Dacres,
Judge Edward Damich,
Deveny Deck,
Paul DeGiusti,
Anita Eisenstadt,
Adam Eisgrau,
Julie Esanu,
Bob Etkins,
Tim Foresman,
David Fulker,
Carole Ganz-Brown,
Barry Glick,
Kenneth Hadeen,
National Climatic Data Center (retired)
Kelley Heilman,
Stephen Heinig,
Brian Kahin,
Richard Kayser,
Michael Keplinger,
Michael Klipper,
Meyer & Klipper, PLLC
Makoto Kono,
Stephen Koslow,
Patrice Laget,
Robert Ledley,
David Lide,
Anne Linn,
Philip Loftus,
James Lohr,
Eric Massant,
Stephen Maurer,
Gilles McDougall,
Bruce McDowell,
Shelia McGarr
Theodore Miles,
Christopher Mohr,
Kurt Molholm,
Judge Pauline Newman,
Harlan Onsrud,
James Ostell,
G. Christian Overton,
Shira Perlmutter,
Larry Pettinger,
Tony Reichardt,
Thomas Rindfleisch,
Hedy Rossmeissl,
John Rumble,
Carolina Saez,
Roberta Saxon,
Terri Scanlan,
Jean Schiro-Zavela,
Harold Schoolman,
Suzanne Scotchmer,
Robert Serafin,
Institute for Scientific Information, Inc.
Charles Sturrock,
Ambassador James Sweeney,
Paul Uhlir,
Ferris Webster,
Myra Williams,
Susan Zevin,
Workshop Proceedings--Listing of Contents
Part I--Workshop Presentations
4 Economic Factors in the Production, Dissemination, and Use of Scientific and Technical Databases
Summary Overview of Existing and Proposed Intellectual Property Rights Regimes for Databases, Marybeth Peters
Summary of Federal Government Information Law and Data Policies, Justin Hughes
Part II--Discussion Sessions on the Existing Legal and Technical Situation
9 Commercial-Sector Data
Part III--Discussion Sessions on the Potential Impacts of Legislation and Assessments of Policy Options
12 Promoting Access to and Use of Government-Sector Scientific and Technical Data--An Assessment of Legal and Policy Options
13 Promoting Access to and Use of Not-for-Profit-sector Scientific and Technical Data--An Assessment of Legal and Policy Options
A Biographical Sketches of Study Committee and Workshop Speakers and Panelists
C Raw Knowledge: Protecting Technical Databases for Science and Industry, Stephen M. Maurer, Attorney-at-Law
NOTE: For the full text of the committee's Proceedings, see National Research Council (1999), Proceedings of the Workshop on Promoting Access to Scientific and Technical Data for the Public Interest: An Assessment of Policy Options, National Academy Press, Washington, D.C., available only online at <http://www.nap.edu/>.
European Union Directive on the Legal Protection of Databases
THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN
Article 57 (2), 66 and 100a thereof,
(1) Whereas databases are at present not sufficiently protected in all Member States
by existing legislation; whereas such protection, where it exists, has different
(2) Whereas such differences in the legal protection of databases offered by the
legislation of the Member States have direct negative effects on the functioning 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 arrangements 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 international dimension;
(3) Whereas existing differences distorting the functioning of the internal market need
to be removed and new ones prevented from arising, while differences not adversely
affecting the functioning of the internal market or the development of an information
market within the Community need not be removed or prevented from arising;
(4) Whereas copyright protection for databases exists in varying forms in the
Member States according to 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;
(5) Whereas copyright remains an appropriate form of exclusive right for authors
who have created databases;
(6) Whereas, nevertheless, in the absence of a harmonized 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
(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 constitute acts which can have serious economic and technical
(9) Whereas databases are a vital tool in the development 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 Community 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
(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 information 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
(13) Whereas this Directive protects collections, sometimes called 'compilations', of
works, data or other materials which are arranged, stored and accessed by means
which include electronic, electromagnetic or electro-optical processes or analogous
(14) Whereas protection under this Directive should be extended to cover
non-electronic databases;
(15) 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 intellectual creation; whereas such
protection should cover the structure of the database;
(16) 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;
(17) Whereas the term 'database' should be understood to include literary, artistic,
musical or other collections 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 systematically or methodically
arranged and can be individually 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;
(18) 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
database 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 recordings 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) Whereas the protection provided for in this Directive 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;
(22) Whereas electronic databases within the meaning of this Directive may also
include devices such as CD-ROM and CD-i;
(23) Whereas 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 (4);
(24) Whereas the rental and lending of databases in the field of copyright and related
rights are governed exclusively by Council Directive 92/100/EEC of 19 November
1992 on rental right and lending right and on certain rights related to copyright in the
field of intellectual property (5);
(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 copyright and
certain related rights (6);
(26) Whereas works protected by copyright and subject matter protected by related
rights, which are incorporated 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 rightholder or his successors in title;
(27) Whereas copyright in such works and related rights in subject matter thus
incorporated into a database 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 stipulating 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 database so created, unless otherwise provided by
(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 particular 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 rightholder; whereas, unlike
CD-ROM or CD-i, where the intellectual property is incorporated in a material
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 rightholder, 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 Convention
and to the extent that the exceptions relate to 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
(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 authorization, 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 copyright in the original selection
or arrangement of the contents of a database, this Directive seeks to safeguard the
position of makers of databases against misappropriation of the results of the
financial and professional investment made in obtaining and collection [sic] 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;
(41) Whereas the objective of the sui generis right is to give the maker of a database
the option of preventing 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
subcontractors 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 material 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 extraction 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 materials from a
database should not give rise to the creation of a new right in the works, data or
materials themselves;
(47) Whereas, in the interests of competition between suppliers of information
products and services, protection by the sui generis right must not be afforded in
such a way as to facilitate abuses of a dominant position, in particular as regards the
creation and distribution 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 protection of databases as a means to secure the remuneration of the
maker of the database, is different from the aim of Directive 95/46/EC of the
individuals with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement
of such data (7), 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 recognized 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 substantial 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 extracting
and re-utilizing insubstantial parts; whereas, however, that user may not unreasonably
prejudice either the legitimate interests of the holder of the sui 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 interests 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;
(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
(55) Whereas a substantial new investment involving a new term of protection may
include a substantial verification of the contents of the database;
(56) Whereas the right to prevent unauthorized extraction 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 comparable protection to databases produced by nationals of a
Member State or persons who have their habitual residence in the territory of the
(57) Whereas, in addition to remedies provided under the legislation of the Member
States for infringements 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 sui 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 audiovisual 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 databases concerned are eligible for
protection under the right laid down in this Directive to prevent unauthorized
extraction and/or re-utilization of their contents, the term of protection under that
right is considerably shorter than that which they enjoy under the national
arrangements 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,
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.
(b) rental right, lending right and certain rights related to copyright in the field of
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.
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 legislation.
2. Where collective works are recognized by the legislation 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.
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
(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;
(e) any reproduction, distribution, communication, display or performance to the
public of the results of the acts referred to in (b).
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. Where the lawful user is
authorized to use only part of the database, this provision shall apply only to that
2. Member States shall have the option of providing for limitations on the rights set
out in Article 5 in the following cases:
(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 [sic] for the purposes of an
administrative or judicial procedure;
(d) where other exceptions to copyright which are traditionally 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
application to be used in a manner which unreasonably prejudices the rightholder's
legitimate interests or conflicts with normal exploitation of the database.
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.
(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;
3. The right referred to in paragraph 1 may be transferred, assigned or granted under
contractual licence.
4. The right provided for in paragraph 1 shall apply irrespective of the eligibility of
that database for protection 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 prejudice the legitimate interests of the maker
of the database shall not be permitted.
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.
Member States may stipulate that lawful users of a database 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
(b) in the case of extraction for the purposes of illustration for teaching or scientific
(c) in the case of extraction and/or re-utilization for the purposes of public security or
an administrative or judicial procedure.
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
1. The right provided for in Article 7 shall apply to database [sic] whose makers or
rightholders are nationals of a Member State or who have their habitual residence in
the territory of the Community.
2. Paragraph 1 shall also apply to companies and firms formed in accordance with
the law of a Member 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 registered office in the territory of the Community, its
operations must be genuinely linked on an ongoing basis with the economy of a
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.
Member States shall provide appropriate remedies in respect of infringements of the
rights provided for in this Directive.
This Directive shall be without prejudice to provisions concerning in particular
copyright, rights related to copyright or any other rights or obligations subsisting in
the data, works or other materials incorporated into a database, patent rights, trade
marks, design rights, the protection 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.
1. Protection pursuant to this Directive as regards copyright shall also be available in
respect of databases 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
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 in any curtailing in that Member State of the remaining term
of protection afforded under those arrangements.
3. Protection pursuant to the provisions of this Directive 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
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
1. Member States shall bring into force the laws, regulations 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 accompanied by such reference on the occasion of their official
publication. The methods of making such reference shall be laid down by Member
2. Member States shall communicate to the Commission 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 referred 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 particular 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.
K. Hï¿½NSCH
(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.
(4) 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.)
NOTE: An official version of this document can be found online at the EUR-LEX Web site at
<http://europa.eu.int/eur-lex/en/lif/dat/1996/en_396L0009.html>.
The material presented in this appendix has been reprinted from electronic files available on the Internet and is intended for use as a general reference, and not for legal research or other work requiring authenticated primary sources.