Database Protection

Laws, Legislation, and Testimony: This section includes the text of The European Union Directive, proposed U.S. legislation, and testimony before Congress.
Commentary and Debate: This section includes articles and law reviews discussing database protection.
Organizations: This section includes links to advocacy groups.

CIP Site Suggestions
A note about Web sites and print and subscription resources: For Web sites, please report any broken links to cip@umuc.edu. For print and subscription resources, please contact your librarian for retrieval.

Laws, Legislation, and Testimony

Websites

U.S. 108th Congress, H.R. 3872, Consumer Access to Information Act of 2004

U.S. 108th Congress, H.R. 3261, Database and Collections of Information Misappropriations Act of 2003

U.S. 108th Congress, Database and Collections of Information Misappropriations Joint Hearing, September 23, 2003

California Database Protection Act of 2003

Directive 96/9/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 March 1996 on the Legal Protection of Databases

Rep. Bliley’s Remarks on the House Floor

U.S. 106th Congress, H.R. 354, Collections of Information Antipiracy Act

Sen. Hatch’s Remarks on Database Antipiracy Legislation

Database Legislation, 1996–2000, Association of Research Libraries

Database Protection Proposals Page. (1998). HyperLaw, Inc.

Database Protection Legislation. (2006). American Library Association’s Washington Office

Commentary and Debate

Websites | Print and Subscription Resources

Websites

Band, J., & Kono, M. (2001). The database protection debate in the 106th Congress. Ohio State Law Journal 62, 869. Retrieved February 19, 2002 from http://www.aaas.org/spp/dspp/rd/yrbk00/ch22

Band, J., & Gowdy, J.S. (1997). Sui generis database protection: Has its time come? D-Lib Magazine. Retrieved January 23, 2002 from http://www.dlib.org/dlib/june97/06band.html

Benkler, Y. (2000). Constitutional bounds of database protection: The role of judicial review in the creation and definition of private rights in information. Berkeley Technology Law Journal, 15(2), 535. Retrieved January 18, 2002 from http://www.law.berkeley.edu/journals/btlj/articles/vol15/benkler/benkler.html

Duke Law and Technology Review. (2001). The future of database protection in U.S. copyright law. Retrieved November 1, 2004, from Duke University Web site http://www.law.duke.edu/journals/dltr/articles/2001dltr0017.html

Greenbaum, D. (2003). Are we legislating away our scientific future? The database debate. Duke University Law & Technology Review. Retrieved November 2, 2004, from http://www.law.duke.edu/journals/dltr/articles/2003dltr0022.html

Hamilton, M. A. (2000). A response to Professor Benkler. Berkeley Technology Law Journal, 15(2), 605-628. Retrieved January 23, 2002 from http://www.law.berkeley.edu/journals/btlj/articles/vol15/hamilton/hamilton.html

Howell, R. G. (1998). Database protection and Canadian laws. Industry Canada and Canadian Heritage. Retrieved January 24, 2002 from http://www.pch.gc.ca/progs/ac-ca/pubs/ic-ci/pubs/fulveren.pdf

Lanzotti, D. & Ferguson, D. (2006). Databases and the Law. Retrieved October 15, 2006 from http://www.unc.edu/courses/2006spring/law/357c/001/projects/dougf/node3.html

Linn, A. (2000). History of database protection: Legal issues of concern to the scientific community. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Global Change Research Program. Retrieved January 23, 2002 from http://globalchange.gov/policies/linn.html

Lipton, J. (2003). Balancing private rights and public policies: Reconceptualizing property in databases. Berkeley Law and Technology Journal, 18(3). Retrieved November 2, 2004, from California University Berkeley Web site: http://www.law.berkeley.edu/journals/btlj/articles/vol18/Lipton.web.pdf

Register of Copyrights, U.S. Copyright Office (1997). Report on legal protection of databases. Washington, DC: Government Printing Office. Retrieved January 24, 2002 from http://www.loc.gov/copyright/reports/

Reichman, J. H., & Uhlir, P.F. (1999). Database protection at the crossroads: Recent developments and their impact on science and technology. Berkeley Technology Law Journal, 14, 793. Retrieved January 24, 2002 from http://www.law.berkeley.edu/journals/btlj/articles/vol14/Reichman/html/reader.html

Software and Information Industry Association. (2001). Database Protection: Making the Case for a New Federal Database Protection Law. Retrieved November 1, 2004, from http://www.siia.net/govt/docs/pub/ip_brief_databaseprotection.pdf

Unsworth, J. (1997). New Copyright and Database Regulations: USPTO, WIPO, and You. Retrieved November 1, 2004, from University of Virginia Web site: http://www.iath.virginia.edu/~jmu2m/WIPOut.html#two

Print and Subscription Resources

Band, J. (2005). The database debate in the 108th Congress: Déjà vu all over again. Computer and Internet Lawyer, 22(1), 1-9. Retrieved June 26, 2007 from Business Source Premier database.

Barker, A. N. (2005). Database Protection Legislation. Searcher, 13, 34-42. Retrieved June 26, 2007 from Academic Search Premier database.

Baron, P. (2001). Back to the future: Learning from the past in the database debate. Ohio State Law Journal, 62, 879. Retrieved January 24, 2002 from Academic Universe/Lexis-Nexis database.

Bastian, M. J. (1999). Protection of "noncreative" databases: Harmonization of United States, foreign and international law. Boston College International and Comparative Law Review, 22, 425. Retrieved January 23, 2002 from Academic Universe/Lexis-Nexis database.

Bender, P. (2002). The constitutionality of proposed federal database protection legislation. University of Dayton Law Review, 28, 143. Retrieved November 4, 2004, from LexisNexis Academic database.

Bott, C. M. (1998). Protection of information products: Balancing commercial reality and the public domain. University of Cincinnati Law Review, 67, 237. Retrieved January 23, 2002 from Academic Universe/Lexis-Nexis database.

Boyarski, J. R. (1999). The heist of Feist: Protection for collections of information and the possible federalization of "hot news". Cardozo Law Review, 21, 871. Retrieved January 23, 2002 from Academic Universe/Lexis-Nexis database.

Brill, C. (1998). Legal protection of collections of facts. Computer Law Review & Technology Journal, 1998, 1. Retrieved January 23, 2002 from Academic Universe/Lexis-Nexis database.

Bitton, M. (2006, Fall). Trends in protection for informational works under copyright law during the 19th and 20th centuries. Michigan Telecommunications and Technology Law Review, 13, 115. Retrieved June 26, 2007 from Academic Universe/ Lexis-Nexis database.

Bitton, M. (2006). A new outlook on the economic dimension of the database protection debate. IDEA: The Intellectual Property Law Review, 47, 93. Retrieved June 26, 2007 from Academic Universe/ Lexis-Nexis database.

Cardinale, P. J. (2007). Sui generis database protection: Second thoughts in the European Union and what it means for the United States. Chicago-Kent Journal of Intellectual Property, 6, 157. Retrieved June 26, 2007 from Academic Universe/ Lexis-Nexis database.

Conley, J. M., Brown, M.M., & Bryan, R.M. (2000). Database protection in a digital world: Why the United States should decline to follow the European model. Information and Communications Technology Law, 9(1), 27-60.

Davison, M. J. (1999). Proposed U.S. database legislation: A comparison with the U.K. database regulations. European Intellectual Property Review, 21(6), 279-284.

Freno, M. (2001). Database protection: Resolving the U.S. database dilemma with an eye toward international protection. Cornell International Law Journal, 34, 165. Retrieved January 24, 2002 from Academic Universe/Lexis-Nexis database.

Fujichaku, R. Y. (1998). The misappropriation doctrine in cyberspace: Protecting the commerciall value of "hot news" information. Hawaii Law Review, 20, 421. Retrieved January 23, 2002 from Academic Universe/Lexis-Nexis database.

Ginsburg, J. C. (1997). Copyright, common law, and sui generis protection of databases in the United States and abroad. University of Cincinnati Law Review, 66, 151. Retrieved January 23, 2002 from Academic Universe/Lexis-Nexis database.

Greenbaum, D.S. (2003). The database debate: In support of an inequitable solution. Albany Law Journal of Science & Technology, 13, 431

Griem, J. M. J. (1993). Against a sui generis system of intellectual property for computer software. Hofstra Law Review, 22, 145. Retrieved January 23, 2002 from Academic Universe/Lexis-Nexis database.

Hansen, H., Eisenbach, R., Ferri, L., Gibbons, R., Sims, C., & Cotter, J. (2001). Database protection. Fordham Intellectual Property, Media & Entertainment Law Journal 11, 275.

Heald, P.J. (2001). The extraction/duplication dichotomy: Constitutional line-drawing in the database debate. Ohio State Law Journal, 62(2), 933. Retrieved January 24, 2002 from Academic Universe/Lexis-Nexis database.

Hill, J. M. (1998). The state of copyright protection for electronic databases beyond ProCD v. Zeidenberg: Are shrinkwrap licenses a viable alternative for database protection? Indiana Law Review, 31, 143. Retrieved January 23, 2002 from Academic Universe/Lexis-Nexis database.

Hughes, J. (2002). How extra-copyright protection of databases can be constitutional. Dayton Law Review, 28, 159. Retrieved November 4, 2004, from LexisNexis Academic database.

Hunsucker, G. M. (1997). The European Database Directive: Regional stepping stone to an international model? Fordham Intellectual Property, Media & Entertainment Law Journal, 7, 697. Retrieved January 23, 2002 from Academic Universe/Lexis-Nexis database.

Huse, C. C. (2005). Database Proection in theory and practice: Three recent cases. Berkeley Technology Law Journal Annual Review, 20, 23-45. Retrieved June 26, 2007 from Academic Search Premier database.

Janssen, K. & Dumortier, J. (2006). The protection of maps and spatial databases in Europe and the United States by copyright and the Sui Generis right. John Marshall Journal of Computer and Information Law, 24, 195. Retrieved June 26, 2007 from Academic Universe/ Lexis-Nexis database.

Keck, R., & Goode, D. (2001). Of misappropriated manure heaps, rude robots and broken promises: The (d)evolving law of database protection. Business Lawyer, 57(1), 513. Retrieved January 24, 2002 from ABI/Inform database.

Keller, B. P. (1998). Condemned to repeat the past: The reemergence of misappropriation and other common law theories of protection for intellectual property. Harvard Journal of Law & Technology, 11, 401. Retrieved January 23, 2002 from Academic Universe/Lexis-Nexis database.

Lipton, J. (2003, Summer). Balancing private rights and public policies: Reconceptualizing property in databases. Berkeley Technology Law Journal, 18, 3, 773-852. Retrieved July 13, 2006, from Academic Search Premier/EBSCOhost database.

Martino, P. (2006). © = Non-© + Non-©? Clarifying copyrightability in databases. The Georgetown Journal of Law and Public Policy, 4, 557. Retrieved June 26, 2007 from Academic Universe/ Lexis-Nexis database.

Masson, A. (2006). Creation of database or creation of data: Crucial choices in the matter of database protection. European Business Law Review, 17, 1063-1073. Retrieved June 26, 2007 from Business Source Premier database.

Mitchell, J. R. (1999). If at Feist you don't succeed, try, try again: An evaluation of the proposed Collections of Information Antipiracy Act. Nebraska Law Review, 78, 900. Retrieved January 23, 2002 from Academic Universe/Lexis-Nexis online database.

Mohr, C. (2005). Collateral damage: The effect of the database debate on other acts of Congress. John Marshall Law School Review of Intellectual Property Law, 5, 78. Retrieved June 26, 2007 from Academic Universe/ Lexis-Nexis database.

Nelson, R. G. (1999). Seeking refuge from a technology storm: The current status of database protection legislation after the sinking of the Collections of Information Anti-Piracy Act and the Second Circuit affirmation of Matthew Bender & Co. v. West Publishing Co. Journal of Intellectual Property Law, 6, 453. Retrieved January 23, 2002 from Academic Universe/Lexis database.

Olson, D. P. (1999). Common law misappropriation in the digital era. Missouri Law Review, 64, 837. Retrieved January 23, 2002 from Academic Universe/Lexis-Nexis database.

Patry, W. (1999). The enumerated powers doctrine and intellectual property: An imminent constitutional collision. George Washington Law Review, 67, 359. Retrieved January 24, 2002 from Academic Universe/Lexis-Nexis database.

Polivy, D. R. (1998). Feist applied: Imagination protects, but perspiration persists: The bases of copyright protection for factual compilations. Fordham Intellectual Property, Media & Entertainment Law Journal, 8, 773. Retrieved January 24, 2002 from Academic Universe/Lexis-Nexis database.

Pollack, M. (1999). The right to know? Delimiting database protection at the juncture of the Commerce Clause, the Intellectual Property Clause and the First Amendment. Cardozo Arts & Entertainment Law Journal, 17, 47. Retrieved January 24, 2002 from Academic Universe/Lexis-Nexis database.

Powell, M. (1997). The European Union's Database Directive: An international antidote to the side effects of Feist? Fordham International Law Journal, 20, 1215. Retrieved January 24, 2002 from Academic Universe/Lexis-Nexis database.

Reichman, J. H., & Samuelson, P. (1997). Intellectual property rights in data? Vanderbilt Law Review, 50, 51. Retrieved January 24, 2002 from Academic Universe/Lexis-Nexis database.

Resnik, D.B. (2003, Jul). Strengthening the United States' database protection laws: Balancing public access and private control. Science & Engineering Ethics, 9, 3, 301-318. Retrieved July 13, 2006, from Academic Search Premier/EBSCOhost database.

Rowley, F. A., Jr. (1998). Dynamic copyright law: Its problems and a possible solution. Harvard Journal of Law & Technology, 11, 481. Retrieved January 24, 2002 from Academic Universe/Lexis-Nexis database.

Saltiel, J. A. (2001). With nowhere else to hide can the First Amendment protect databases? University of Illinois Journal of Law, Technology and Policy 2001, 163.

Sanders, A. K. (2006). Limits to database protection: Fair use and scientific research exemptions. Research Policy, 35, 854-874. Retrieved June 26, 2007 from Business Source Premier database.

Sanks, T. M. (1998). Database protection: National and international attempts to provide legal protection for databases. Florida State University Law Review, 25, 991. Retrieved January 24, 2002 from Academic Universe/Lexis-Nexis database.

Temin, M. K. (2006). The irrelevance of creativity: Feist’s wrong turn and the scope of copyright protection of factual works. Penn State Law Review, 111, 263. Retrieved June 26, 2007 from Academic Universe/ Lexis-Nexis database.

Tessensohn, J. (1998). The devil's in the details: The quest for legal protection of computer databases and the Collections of Information Act, H.R. 2652. IDEA: The Journal of Law and Technology, 38, 439. Retrieved January 24, 2002 from Academic Universe/Lexis-Nexis database.

Valente, D. R. (2000). Feist (Feist Publications, Inc. v. Rural Telephone Service Co., 111 S. Ct. 1282 (1991)) overruled? Database protection in the next century. Computer Lawyer, 17(7), 20-22.

Wayman, W. M. (1997). International database protection: A multilateral treaty solution to the United States' database dilemma. Santa Clara Law Review, 37, 427. Retrieved January 24, 2002 from Academic Universe/Lexis-Nexis database.

Wolken, J. C. (1998). Just the facts, ma'am: A case for uniform federal regulation of information databases in the new information age. Syracuse Law Review, 48, 1263. Retrieved January 24, 2002 from Academic Universe/Lexis-Nexis database.

Organizations

American Library Association Database Protection Issue Brief

Hyperlaw’s Database Protection Proposals Page

National Federation of Abstracting and Indexing Services

Public Knowledge Database Protection Issue Page

Software and Information Industry Association

Union for the Public Domain

Current Issues and Resources index