Databases

The Advocate General of the European Court of Justice (ECJ) has delivered opinions in four parallel sets of proceedings relating to databases containing details of football and horseracing fixtures. The opinions set out her views on the meaning of the various provisions relating to the sui generis database right established under the 1996 EC Database Directive, which provides limited protection for databases which do not meet the stringent criteria for copyright protection but which nevertheless involve substantial investment.

Advocate General Cruz Villalón has given an opinion on the legal nature, within the framework of the Database Directive (96/9/EC), of the transmission of data via the internet from one territory to an internet user in another, and the location of the acts involved in that process. (Football Dataco and others v Sportradar GmbH and another, Case C-173/11, 21 June 2012.)

A consideration of the legal issues involved in retaining and exploiting archive material.

On 1 July 2004, several changes will be made to the system which enables holders of intellectual property rights to request national customs authorities to take action in relation to goods which they suspect infringe their rights, including the extension of the system to cover plant variety rights, designations of origin and geographical indications.

The High Court has held that football fixture lists were protected by database copyright, but not the sui generis right provided for in the Database Directive (96/9/EC).

Following the ECJ's ruling in the British Horseracing Board v William Hill case, the Court of Appeal has allowed William Hill's appeal against the High Court's finding that it had infringed the British Horseracing Board's database right.

An update on the Court of Appeal decision in Ofcom v Information Commissioner, 20 February 2009, against a decision under the Environmental Information Regulations 2004 (SI 2004/3391), requiring Ofcom to disclose information about mobile phone base stations. Note: Following the Court of Appeal decision, the Information Commissioner appealed to the Supreme Court, and on 27 January 2010, the Supreme Court referred to the ECJ a question about the interpretation of Directive 2003/4/EC on public access to environmental information (see Legal update, Supreme Court refers EIR exceptions question to ECJ). The Advocate General gave her opinion on 10 March 2011 (see Legal update, Advocate General's opinion on environmental information disclosure exceptions). On 28 July 2011, the ECJ ruled on the reference in this case (see Legal update, ECJ rules on environmental information disclosure exceptions). (See details of PLC IPIT & Communications' policy on annotating case reports.)

The Court of Appeal has sent a reference to the ECJ on the meaning of "extraction" and "re-utilisation" in the Database Directive (96/9/EC) where the defendants' servers were based outside the UK. (Football Dataco Limited and others v Sportradar GmbH and another [2011] EWCA Civ 330, 29 March 2011.) (Free access.)

A specimen data licence, drafted from the perspective of the licensor, for use where a supplier in the financial services sector is supplying data to a customer and granting it a licence to redistribute the data to the customer's subscribers.

A specimen data licence, drafted from the perspective of the licensor, for use where a supplier is supplying data to a customer and granting it a licence for its internal business use.

The High Court has upheld the validity of certain licensing arrangements despite questions as to the existence of intellectual property rights in the underlying database.

A specimen data processing agreement, drafted from the perspective of the supplier, for use where a supplier is processing non-personal data in accordance with a customer's instructions and supplier data is combined with customer data.

A specimen data processing agreement, drafted from the perspective of the supplier, for use where a supplier is processing personal and non-personal data in accordance with a customer's instructions, personal data is transferred outside the EEA and supplier data is combined with customer data.

An agreement between a database provider and a value-added reseller of that provider's products, drafted from the database provider's point of view.

The High Court has held that the fixtures of the English and Scottish football leagues attract copyright as a database, in the first English judgment to examine the test for subsistence of this type of copyright work.

The European Court of Justice has answered various questions on the construction of Article 7 of the Database Directive.

The Court of Appeal has allowed William Hill's appeal against the High Court's finding that it had infringed the British Horseracing Board's database right.

The Advocate General of the European Court of Justice has delivered opinions setting out her views on the sui generis database right established under the Database Directive.

The Advocate-General has taken the view that reproduction of information sourced from a database was an infringement of database right.

A specimen database sale agreement, drafted from the perspective of the buyer, for use where the buyer is acquiring a database which does not contain any personal data and which may or may not form part of a larger asset purchase transaction.

A specimen database sale agreement, drafted from the perspective of the buyer, for use where the buyer is acquiring a customer database and an employee database which contain personal data and which may or may not form part of a larger asset purchase transaction. Personal data will be transferred to a destination outside the EEA.

The European Court of Justice has ruled on the legal nature, within the framework of the Database Directive (96/9/EC), of the sending of data via the internet from a server in one territory to an internet user in another, and the location of any act of infringement arising from such sending of data.

The ECJ has given its ruling on a preliminary reference from the Court of Appeal on questions relating to subsistence of database copyright in football league fixture lists.  (Football Dataco and others v Yahoo! UK Ltd and others, Case C-604/10, 1 March 2012.) (Free access.)

The ECJ has severely restricted the scope of the sui generis database right introduced by the EC Database Directive (96/9/EC) in a judgment relating to the dispute between the British Horseracing Board and William Hill over the use of the Board's horseracing fixture lists, and three parallel judgments concerning the use of UK football fixture lists by companies in Greece, Finland and Sweden.

On 29 April 2004, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruled that the refusal by an undertaking in a dominant position to grant a licence for copyright will only constitute an abuse of a dominant position if it prevents the emergence of a new product or service for which there is a potential demand, is without objective justification and is capable of eliminating all competition on the relevant market.

Tilman Lueder, the acting head of the European Commission's copyright unit, has given a speech in which he outlines policy options in the areas of collective rights management, design protection for visible spare parts, database right and the amendment of copyright law to tailor it to a digital environment.

The European Commission has published a Communication on the digital publishing of scientific information, which examines how access to scientific information (both in the form of publications and research data) can be improved, and how digital scientific information can be preserved. The Communication considers the current position in Europe, including "open-access" publishing, and identifies the legal and other issues involved in any future policy initiatives.

The European Commission has published the first evaluation of whether the EC Database Directive (96/9/EC) has been successful in achieving its goals. The Commission has identified four options for reforming the legal protection of databases to meet the problems it has identified, on which it is seeking the views of interested parties.

An update on the Cabinet Office's press release announcing the establishment of a new digital public services unit, and the creation of "MyGov", an interactive and personalised web page to access public services.

The High Court has considered claims for copyright and database right infringement, as well as a claim for breach of confidence, in relation to tables of data concerning permanent memory absolute addresses for mobile phones. (Forensic Telecommunications Services Ltd v West Yorkshire Police & Another [2011] EWHC 2892 (Ch), 9 November 2011.)

The High Court has held that it could accept jurisdiction over a claim for infringement of database right and copyright and misuse of confidential information. (SMI Group Ltd v Levy and others [2012] EWHC 3078 (Ch), 9 October 2012.)

An update on the case of Magical Marking Limited and another v Sean Holly and others, 16 October 2008, in which the High Court upheld a claimant company's action for infringement of copyright and database right.

The High Court has upheld a claim by Attheraces Limited that the British Horseracing Board has abused its dominant position in the market for the supply of UK pre-race data, contrary to Chapter II of the Competition Act 1998 and Article 82 of the EC Treaty.

The High Court has granted summary judgment in a database right infringement claim. (Executive Grapevine v Wall [2012] EWHC 4152 (Ch), 12 November 2012).

The High Court has given judgment on claims for trade mark infringement, passing off, breach of confidence, infringement of database right and (in respect of one defendant) breach of an employment contract in relation to the unauthorised use of data illicitly taken from BSkyB's customer database. (British Sky Broadcasting Group Plc and others v Digital Satellite Warranty Cover Ltd and others [2012] EWHC 2642 (Ch).)

The High Court has held that ex-employees who copied and retained various documents belonging to their ex-employer, such as customer contact details and sales figures, had not acted in breach of confidence, because the information was available in the public domain or their gathered skills and expertise, so that it was not confidential so as to prevent them from using it after the termination of their employment contracts. However, Peter Smith J held, among other things, that the ex-employees had infringed their ex-employer's database right by copying various customer sales figures and electronic files from its computer system to the computer system of a competing company set up by the ex-employees. The case illustrates the potential utility of claims for database right infringement where ex-employees have copied and retained information without authorisation, in particular where such information may not be protected by confidentiality. Case: Crowson Fabrics Ltd v Rider and others, 20 December 2007.

An update on First Conferences Services Limited & another v Richard Bracchi & another [2009] EWHC 2176 (Ch), 26 August 2009, in which the High Court upheld a claim for misuse of confidential information, breach of database right and passing off against the claimant's ex-employee.

The EU's Article 29 Working Party has published Opinion 16/2011 on the EASA/IAB Best Practice Recommendations on Online Behavioural Advertising

An overview of some of the key legal developments in the field of IP, IT and communications law during 2011, and an outline of key expected developments in 2012. (Free access.)

An overview of some of the key legal developments in the field of IP, IT and communications law during 2009, and an outline of some of the main expected developments in 2010.

An overview of some of the key legal developments in the field of IP, IT and communications law during 2012 and an outline of key expected developments in 2013.

The Law Society has published a report commenting on the European Commission's proposed directive on criminal penalties for intellectual property (IP) offences, which was published in April 2006. The report raises concerns about the legal basis for the proposed directive, which followed the ECJ's ruling in Case C-176/03 about the competence of the EC to adopt criminal measures (see Legal update, European Commission adopts proposal for directive on criminal penalties for IPR offences), and about the extension of the criminal law to all IP rights, particularly patents.Source: Law Society, Policy on proposed changes in the law, 1 September 2006.

A practice note that discusses legal issues likely to arise on an assignment of intellectual property of any kind.

The Patents County Court (Financial Limits) (No 2) Order 2011 (SI 2011/2222), which introduces a £500,000 limit on the value of intellectual property claims heard in Patents County Court, other than those concerning patents and designs, came into force on 1 October 2011.

The Patent Office has published an unofficial consolidated text of UK legislation on copyright and related rights (including rights in performances, publication right and database right), which incorporates amendments made up to 31 December 2003. The text includes amendments made to the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 by means of secondary legislation in order to implement EC directives in the field. Source: Patent Office notice, 11 March 2005.

The Patents County Court has ruled on infringement of sui generis database right in a database of individuals associated with GP practices. (Beechwood House Publishing Ltd v Guardian Products Ltd and another [2010] EWPCC 12, 20 June 2011.) (Free access.)

The High Court has held that databases can be protected from the extraction or re-use of information (that is, sui generis database rights can subsist) where factual data are collated which are available to all. The decision will be welcome to database owners who have seen their rights apparently diminished in a recent run of European Court of Justice cases.

A discussion of the legal issues arising on the sale of a database, focusing primarily on data protection-related issues.