Database disputes

Database right

Database right is a proprietary right governed by the Copyright and Rights in Databases Regulations 1997 (CRD 1997), SI 1997/3032, which implemented Directive 96/9/EC (EU Database Directive). Database right arises automatically when there has been a substantial investment in obtaining, verifying or presenting the database contents. A database is defined as a ‘collection of independent works, data or other materials which are arranged in a systematic or methodical way and are individually accessible by electronic or other means’ (CRD 1997, SI 1997/3032, reg 12, and section 3A(1) of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 (CDPA 1988)). For example, the definition of database would include an electronic or hard copy encyclopedia or a telephone directory.

Database right can subsist whether or not the database or its contents are a copyright work. There is no requirement for an 'author’s own intellectual creation' (as there is for copyright); the test is whether there has been a 'substantial investment' and this will turn on the facts as not all databases qualify for protection. Database right only protects the arrangement of the database as a means of storing