The U.S. House of Representatives has before it an attempt to create a new type of intellectual property specifically for databases. Among the major concerns for libraries and other information providers to the "Database and Collections of Information Misappropriation Act" (H.R. 3261) are such questions as: Will performing interlibrary loans, preservation projects, circulating material, and/or creating bibliographies, or providing access to commercial and/or Internet databases violate its terms? Trouble is, there's no guidance as to what libraries, schools, and research and educational institutions can and cannot do with databases. The vagueness of the text and the lack of definition of terms used in the bill could lead to expensive lawsuits to gain judicial interpretations and limits on liability, according to opponents. The Association of Research Libraries says a key concern is "the fact that the legislation would create protection not only for databases, but for the facts contained therein. Such protection would be at odds with the U.S. Supreme Court's assertion in Feist Publications v. Rural Telephone Service Co. (1991) and in Dastar v. Twentieth Century Fox (2003) that copyright protection does not extend to facts."
posted by Marcus Zillman |
5:20 AM
