This chapter discusses five issues: the availability of patent protection for computer hardware and for computer software (computer programs); copyright in computer software; databases and the sui generis right; the Internet; and semiconductor chip protection.
Chapter
30. Computer technology and intellectual property
Chapter
21. Database Rights
Justine Pila and Paul L.C. Torremans
This chapter discusses database protection and database right under European Parliament and Council Directive on the protection of databases [1996] OJ L 77/20.1, better known as the Database Directive. Long before the advent of digital technology various forms of databases were around in analogue format, such as telephone directories. Digital technology opened up opportunities of scale in this area and made data easy to search. But at the same time it impeded the mere consultation or reading of the data, that are now hidden in a digital format. The real value of a database lies in the comprehensive nature of the information it contains, rather than in the originality of the information itself. Thus, granting an exclusive right in a collection of data or information, without any requirement of originality in relation to the data or information, not only risks interfering with the right of access to information, but also risks interfering with the freedom of competition, since the only workable access to information and data that are themselves in the public domain and freely available will now pass via the rights holder and its database. The database right has the difficult task of striking the right balance between the various interests involved, and the Directive has been accused of putting in place the least balanced and most anti-competitive exclusive right in the EU.
Chapter
3. Computer programs and databases
This chapter deals with copyright in computer programs and databases for which the EU Software and Database Directives set special rules, which are implemented in the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 (CDPA). In addition, it deals with database right, also created by the Directive, which is implemented by the Copyright and Rights in Databases Regulations 1997. There are particular defences to copyright infringement in relation to computer programs that allow decompilation and the development of compatible software. Database right is intended to protect the investment in gathering the data into a database; it does not protect data that is created by the database owner. Database right protects against the extraction or re-utilization of the contents of the database for a period of 15 years.
Chapter
3. Subject Matter
L. Bently, B. Sherman, D. Gangjee, and P. Johnson
This chapter is concerned with the subject matter, or types of creation, protected by copyright law as stipulated by the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. Eight categories of work are examined: literary works, dramatic works, musical works, artistic works, films, sound recordings, broadcasts, and published editions (or typographical works). The chapter considers the definitions of these categories of work in the case law and through the jurisprudence of the European Court of Justice. It discusses whether the list of works must be treated as an exhaustive list.
