Intellectual Property Protection for Databases at the International Level: Copyright and Sui Generis Forms of Protection (CRS Report for Congress)
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| Release Date |
March 17, 1999 |
| Report Number |
RL30104 |
| Report Type |
Report |
| Authors |
Dorothy Schrader, American Law Division |
| Source Agency |
Congressional Research Service |
Summary:
Copyright law protects both traditional print and computer-automated databases that exhibit original, creative expression through the selection, arrangement, or coordination of their component elements. Noncreative databases are not subject to protection against copying under the copyright laws of most countries. Since database products have great economic significance and electronic versions are frequently transmitted across national borders, appropriate international standards for the protection of databases have assumed great importance and have received attention in several venues in recent years. This report reviews and analyzes recent international developments relating to the protection of both creative and noncreative databases, including issuance of a Directive on the Legal Protection of Databases by the European Union; development of minimum standards of protection for creative databases under both the Agreement on Trade-Related Intellectual Property Standards through the World Trade Organization and the World Intellectual Property Organization Copyright Treaty; and consideration of a possible new treaty on the protection of noncreative databases.
