Database definition
While data, i.e. information without internal organization and structure, is not protected by copyright law, the database is protected by copyright law, but only under certain conditions.
From the point of view of the legal protection of databases, the key legal regulation is Directive 96/9/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council on the legal protection of databases, on which the Czech regulation is based. In accordance with this directive, the term database is defined by law as a collection of independent works, data or other materials arranged in a systematic or methodical way and individually accessible by electronic or other means.
Databases are collections of works, data or other elements that must meet the following characteristics:
- Independence (these works can be used independently even outside the database)
- Individual accessibility of individual works (availability in electronic or material form)
Examples of databases:
- Dictionaries
- Encyclopedias
- Catalogues
- Dictionary systems (thesauri)
- Collections of literary, artistic, musical or other works (such as anthologies, websites, catalogues, indexes, lists, but also exhibitions)
Not databases:
- Software (they are protected as copyrighted literary works)
- Recordings of an audio-visual, cinematographic, literary or musical work (although individual parts may function independently)
- Compilation of sound recordings on CD
Copyright protection of databases
The Copyright Act protects the database as a specific work of collective authorship. Not only the method of selection and arrangement of the content of the database, i.e. its structure, but also the content of the database as such is protected (this is a so-called special right to the database – for more on this topic, see the section Special right to the database below).
The method of selection and the arrangement of the database are protected as copyright according to § 2, paragraph 2 Act No. 121/2000 Col.
The following features are key to recognizing a database as an author’s work:
- The method of selection or arrangement of the content must be the author’s own intellectual creation (the way of arranging the individual elements of the database is the author’s own intellectual effort, not the result of random generation or mechanical arrangement).
- The components of the database are systematically or methodically arranged (therefore, the author’s intellectual effort is required to achieve a specific arrangement of the database – it is not a random arrangement of elements).
- Individual components of the database are made accessible electronically or in another way (similarly to the definition of the database, the condition of individual accessibility of individual elements, in electronic or material form, is represented here as well).
Special right to the database
A special right to a database is a special type of legal protection. The possible granting of this protection is completely independent of whether the database is protected as a copyrighted work.
Concurrence of both of these protections is not mutually excluded, and therefore it is possible for the database to be granted copyright protection and at the same time granted protection by this special right to the database.
While copyright protection of a database primarily protects the results of the author’s creative activity, the purpose of the special right is different – it protects the effort and investment that led to the creation of the database. In contrast to copyright protection, neither objective novelty (uniqueness) nor originality is a condition for the creation of a special right of the database creator. Even if two identical databases are created by two other entities, both are protected by this special right, provided that both entities have substantially contributed to the creation of their database.
A special right protects the content of the database (not only its arrangement and structure) and belongs to the creator of the database. The creator of the database is a person, whether natural or legal, who develops a key initiative to create the database, his contribution to the functioning of the database is substantial and at the same time bears the associated financial risks. This is the person who finances, initiates or orders the creation of the database. The special right therefore represents a certain form of investment protection, which the acquirer puts into the database.
A substantial contribution to the database, which is one of the conditions for granting a special right to the database for the acquirer, may consist, for example, of:
- Provision of funds for the creation of a database
- Expenditure of time, work and energy to create the database.
So what protection does the special law provide the acquirer?
This is a protection against unauthorized misuse/exploitation of database content, which would not, however, be punishable by copyright protection. These are situations where completely identical content of the database is used in a different internal arrangement and is therefore not protected by copyright. This would be a kind of parasitism on a database created by someone else. This may, for example, be a situation where a freely accessible database is changed in terms of its internal organization, and this changed form is published as an original author’s work.
The acquirer himself is entitled to extract or utilize the contents of the database. At the same time, he can transfer these permissions to another person.
Unauthorized misuse/utilization of database content is not applicable in case when the database is used:
- For personal use
- For scientific or pedagogical purposes, provided that the source is correctly cited, and the scope of use will be justified and only for non-profit purposes.
However, the protection against unauthorized misuse/exploitation of database content does not apply to official administrative databases, such as the Criminal Register or the Population Register.
The special right to the database generally lasts 15 years from the acquisition of the database, or its first release.
Related legislation:
- Directive 96/9/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 March 1996 on the legal protection of databases
- Act No. 121/2000 Coll. on copyright, on rights related to copyright and on the amendment of certain laws (Copyright Act)
- EU Digital Single Market Copyright Directive 2019/790 (the exception for text and data mining for scientific purposes is established here)
- EU Directive No. 2019/1024, on open data and the repeated use of public sector information (the so-called Open Data Directive) – this directive was implemented into the Czech legal order by Act No. 241/2022 Coll. (in Czech language), which amends three Acts – the Act on free of access to information, the Act on the right to environmental information and the Act on the support of research, experimental development and innovation