Legal Definitions - Directive on the Legal Protection of Databases

The Directive on the Legal Protection of Databases is a law created by the European Commission in 1996. It aims to provide a standard way of protecting databases that contain original content and those that do not.

For databases that contain original content, the Directive provides copyright protection. This means that the creator of the database has the exclusive right to use and distribute the content. For example, if someone creates a database of recipes, they have the right to prevent others from copying or distributing the recipes without their permission.

However, some databases may not qualify for copyright protection because their content is not original. In these cases, the Directive provides a sui generis system of protection. This means that the creator of the database has the exclusive right to prevent others from extracting or reusing a substantial part of the database. For example, if someone creates a database of public domaininformation, they may not have copyright protection, but they can still prevent others from copying a large portion of the database.

The Directive on the Legal Protection of Databases is important because it helps to protect the rights of creators and encourages innovation and creativity. It also helps to ensure that databases are used in a fair and legal way.