Beyond copyright: Database protection and the Web

This paper examines database protection legislation and initiatives in the context of the World Wide Web and in relationship to, and in contrast with, copyright. Implications for authors, publishers, librarians and users is explored in light of the database protection legislation now pending in Congress that would sidestep copyright to protect databases from "misappropriation" of data under the commerce clause of the Constitution. Attention is paid to the impact of the European Community's Database Directive which protects databases that would not meet the minimal test of creativity to qualify for copyright, and examines the pressure on the United States to pass a similar measure by a clause within that directive that extends protection only to works produced within the EC or within nations that provide reciprocal protection. In both instances "database" is very broadly defined. Almost anything posted on the World Wide Web could be construed as a database and pass from copyright protection to database protection, which could strip away the right of fair use and extend protection to facts. Central to this paper is a discussion is whether strong protection fits comfortably within the framework of a loose and still experimental medium of communication and information dissemination.