Case studies

"It really is saving us a huge number of hours over the days, weeks and months. Having more relevant support at hand, not having to draft or review documents them from scratch - it all adds up."

Southampton FC

Access all 2 documents on Database right (Commercial)

GET ACCESS NOW

GLOSSARY

Database right (Commercial) definition

Published by a LexisNexis Commercial expert

What does Database right (Commercial) mean?

A database is protected by database right if there has been a substantial investment in obtaining, verifying or presenting the contents of the database.

A database is as a collection of independent works, data or other materials that is arranged in a systematic or methodical way, and individually accessible by electronic or other means. Database rights last for a term of 15 years from the end of the calendar year in which the database is completed. If the database only comes into the public domain after completion but before expiry of the 15 year period, it will be protected for 15 years from that first publication. However, protection of the database can actually last for much longer because the term restarts each time a new investment is made to change the contents of the database. This change need not be a single major change, but can be cumulative after many small amendments. Thus a database which is regularly updated may have a perpetual term of protection under database right.

Speed up all aspects of your legal work with tools that help you to work faster and smarter. Win cases, close deals and grow your business–all whilst saving time and reducing risk.

Database right—permitted acts and remedies

The Copyright and Rights in Databases Regulations 1997 (CRD 1997), SI 1997/3032 implemented the EU Database Directive by introducing changes to UK copyright law as it applied to databases. CRD 1997 confers copyright protection only on those databases that arise out of the author’s own intellectual creation.CRD 1997 also brought in a unique or sui generis right—the database right. Unlike copyright, this applies regardless of whether the database is an intellectual creation as long as there has been sufficient ‘investment’. Copyright protection in a database and database right are independent rights. For further reading on copyright in databases and the database right, see Practice Note: Copyright in databases and database right.As EU-derived legislation, CRD 1997 continues to apply in the UK as assimilated law. Assimilated law is the name given to retained EU law (REUL) which remains in force after the end of 2023. The re-categorisation of REUL to assimilated law reflects a change in its status and treatment under UK law, in that it is to be interpreted according...

Copyright in databases and database right

Databases, especially electronic databases, have for some time now made up an important sector of digital economies around the world. Many jurisdictions see investment in and exploitation of databases to be a vital tool in the development of an information market.In the UK, the key legislation relevant to the protection of databases through IP are:•the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 (CDPA 1988)•the Copyright and Rights in Databases Regulations 1997 (CRD 1997), SI 1997/3032, which implement Directive 96/9/EC on the legal protection of databases (EU Database Directive) in the UKA database can be protected in different ways:•copyright can protect literary and artistic works including tables and compilations that form part of a database (literary copyright for tables and compilations was removed for databases by CDPA 1988, s 3(1)(a)), if they are original works•copyright can also protect the structure of a database under CDPA 1988, ss 3–3A which gave effect to Article 3 of the EU Database Directive, if it is an original literary work. The test of originality is that...

Discover our 2 Practice Notes on Database right (Commercial)