Intellectual property rights on information and market power: comparing the European and American protection of databases

Derclaye, Estelle

Abstract

When the database sui generis right (“database right”) was enacted in 1996, many voices rose to criticise it vehemently. According to some, it would create an unprecedented intellectual property right on information, the latter being traditionally otherwise free, that would lead to monopolies on raw information and give considerable market power to database producers. The recent report issued by the European Commission 10 years later on the status of the database industry in Europe and the United States apparently confirms this thesis as the American database sector is thriving without a similar intellectual property right whilst the European database sector is receding. This would suggest that the situation in the U.S. is ideal, that is, it adequately protects database producers whilst safeguarding consumers’ interests. This paper seeks to discover whether these assertions and the Commission report’s conclusions actually reflect the reality. If they do, the database right should be abolished and neither the U.S. nor any country should adopt a similar right.

Citation

Derclaye, E. (2007). Intellectual property rights on information and market power: comparing the European and American protection of databases. International Review of Intellectual Property and Competition Law, 38(3),

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Publication Date: Jan 1, 2007
• Deposit Date: Nov 6, 2014
• Publicly Available Date: Dec 2, 2022
• Journal: International Review of Intellectual Property and Competition Law
• Print ISSN: 0018-9855
• Electronic ISSN: 2195-0237
• Publisher: Max-Planck-Institut für Immaterialgüter- und Wettbewerbsrecht
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 38
• Issue: 3
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1017360