1) Contrary to the original proposal, it is not confined in
its application to electronic databases, but applies to
all "collections of works, data or other independent
materials arranged in a systematic way and capable of
being accessed by electronic or other means", it
appears, however, that the right will not normally
extend to compilations of musical recordings nor to
recordings of cinematographic, audiovisual, literary or
musical works.
2) Two distinct types of rights are provided for in the directive: a) copyright for those databases that by reason of the selection or arrangement of their contents constitute the author's own intellectual creation; and b) an extraction and/or reutilization right for databases in respect of which there has been "qualitatively and/or quantitatively a substantial investment in either the obtaining, verification or presentation of the contents".
3) Copyright protection does not extend to the contents of the database as such, unless of course the items in question qualify for protection in their own right, but only to the protectible features of arrangement or selection.
4) The protection afforded under the copyright aspects of the directive extends to temporary reproduction (e.g., downloading from an on-line source) and to any communication, display or performance to the public.
5) Member states have the right to create a number of fair use exceptions to the copyright protection including uses for teaching and scientific research for a non commercial purpose and for purposes of public security.
6) The extraction and/or reutilization right gives the right-holder the right to control permanent or temporary transfer of all or a substantial part of the contents of a database to another medium by any means or in any form and to control any form of making available to the public all or a substantial part of the contents of a database by the distribution of copies, by renting, by on-line transmission or by other forms of transmission. It is, however, explicitly provided that the right holder has no right to control the extraction or reutilization of insubstantial parts of a database and cannot impose such control by contract, both qualitative and quantitative factors being taken into account to determine what is or is not substantial.
7) Fair use provisions analogous to those permitted under the copyright section of the directive can be established under national law in respect of the extraction right but not the reutilization right.
8) The extraction and reutilization rights have a duration of 15 years from the creation of the database.
9) Rights under the extraction and reutilization rights are confined to database makers who are EU nationals or whose countries provide reciprocal protection for EU database producers; this probably means that United States database producers will not be able to take advantage of these provisions.
10) In view of its novel aspects, the effects of the directive are to be reviewed after three years.
2) Two distinct types of rights are provided for in the directive: a) copyright for those databases that by reason of the selection or arrangement of their contents constitute the author's own intellectual creation; and b) an extraction and/or reutilization right for databases in respect of which there has been "qualitatively and/or quantitatively a substantial investment in either the obtaining, verification or presentation of the contents".
3) Copyright protection does not extend to the contents of the database as such, unless of course the items in question qualify for protection in their own right, but only to the protectible features of arrangement or selection.
4) The protection afforded under the copyright aspects of the directive extends to temporary reproduction (e.g., downloading from an on-line source) and to any communication, display or performance to the public.
5) Member states have the right to create a number of fair use exceptions to the copyright protection including uses for teaching and scientific research for a non commercial purpose and for purposes of public security.
6) The extraction and/or reutilization right gives the right-holder the right to control permanent or temporary transfer of all or a substantial part of the contents of a database to another medium by any means or in any form and to control any form of making available to the public all or a substantial part of the contents of a database by the distribution of copies, by renting, by on-line transmission or by other forms of transmission. It is, however, explicitly provided that the right holder has no right to control the extraction or reutilization of insubstantial parts of a database and cannot impose such control by contract, both qualitative and quantitative factors being taken into account to determine what is or is not substantial.
7) Fair use provisions analogous to those permitted under the copyright section of the directive can be established under national law in respect of the extraction right but not the reutilization right.
8) The extraction and reutilization rights have a duration of 15 years from the creation of the database.
9) Rights under the extraction and reutilization rights are confined to database makers who are EU nationals or whose countries provide reciprocal protection for EU database producers; this probably means that United States database producers will not be able to take advantage of these provisions.
10) In view of its novel aspects, the effects of the directive are to be reviewed after three years.
