Is my database protected by copyright?

Databases are an increasingly important tool in digital economies that revolve ever more around the use and exploitation of data and information.

In the UK, there are a few different ways in which you can protect your databases. These are as follows:

• Tables and compilations that form part of a database (“Tables and Compilations”), which are protectable as literary works pursuant to s.3(1)(a) of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 (“CDPA 1988”);
• The structure of a database (the “Database Structure”), which is protectable as a literary work pursuant to s.3(1)(d) and s.3A CDPA 1988; and
• The unique database right (the “Database Right”), which can protect the data in the database pursuant to the Copyright and Rights in Databases Regulations 1997 (“CRDR 1997”).

What is a database?

So, what exactly is a database? A database is defined in CDPA 1988 and CRDR 1997 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’.

A few of these terms have been defined in case law:

• ‘Collection’ means a gathering together in one place of more than one item;
• ‘Independent’ means that the items must be separable from one another; and
• ‘Arranged in a systematic or methodical way’ means organised in a way which is not unstructured, requires a degree of effort and there is reasoning behind the way the data has been arranged.

Examples of databases include spreadsheets, websites, customer databases, document management systems and even sport fixture lists.

Tables and Compilations

Tables and Compilations are protectable as copyright works, provided that they are original literary works.

Originality is assessed under general copyright subsistence principles, i.e. the work must be an expression of the author’s own intellectual creation.

Database Structure

The Database Structure is protectable as a copyright work, provided that it is an original literary work.

In order to be original, there must be effort spent on the selection and arrangement of the data and sufficient judgment and skill exercised in the process to make the work the author’s own intellectual creation.

Database Right

The Database Right protects the data in a database, if the database is the result of substantial investment in obtaining, verifying or presenting its contents.

These terms have been further defined in case law:

• ‘Substantial investment’ – an investment of €34,900 was deemed to be substantial in the case Directmedia Publishing GmbH v Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg (Case 304/07);
• ‘Obtaining’ refers to showing effort in seeking out (rather than creating) independent materials and collecting them into the database;
• ‘Verifying’ means showing the effort made or resource used to ensure the reliability of information in a database, and to monitor the accuracy of materials collected when the database was created and during its operation; and
• ‘Presenting’ refers to showing the effort in making the database good at its function of processing information and allowing users to access it.

If you’re looking for copyright advice, get in touch with our legal team at info@briffa.com or through our website form. Our IP experts are here to help.