|
Database rights are a form of exclusive right introduced by European Union Law to those countries which follow EU Law in 1997.
In most countries databases are covered by copyright law to some degree, as being a work that shows originality in its selection, coordination and arrangement. The lawmakers of the European Union decided that in order to provide greater protection to collections of information they should have a unified legal protection for databases. To do this they created a sui generis right called database right. It was created by Council Directive No. 96/9/EC of 11 March 1996 (Official Journal of the European Communities No. L77, 27.3.96, page 20) on the legal protection of databases.
Database rights lasts for 15 years under this regime, but can be extended if the database is updated. The policy disallows copying of substantial parts of a database (including frequent extraction of insubstantial parts) and in that respect is similar to copyright.
In many other respects database right is similar to copyright: it is created automatically, vests in employers, does not have to be registered and is a right against use (not a monopoly).
In the UK it was introduced as The Copyright and Related rights in Databases Regulations 1997' (SI. 3032 of 1997) and came into force on January 1 1998.
|
