– Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
– Copyright and Rights in Databases Regulations 1997 (SI 1997 No. 3032), and Copyright and Rights in Databases (Amendment) Regulations (SI 2003 No. 2501).

The Copyright and Rights in Databases Regulations 1997 came into force on January 1, 1998. They amend the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 and provide protection additional to any copyright, which may subsist already in the hands of the database provider. The Database Regulations allow for a form of copyright in certain databases as original literary works. In addition to such copyright an additional sui generis right is given to the maker of a database against unauthorized extraction or “re-utilization” of the contents of the database. As opposed to copyright, which protects the structure or classification of the database, the sui generis right protects the contents of a database.

Definition: a database is defined as a collection of independent works, data or other materials which are (a) arranged in a systematic or methodical way; and (b) individually accessible by electronic or other means.

Copyright in databases: a database is mentioned as a specific class of literary work and may qualify as an original literary work for copyright purposes if by reason of the selection or arrangement of contents of the database, the database constitutes the author’s own intellectual creation. Items within a database may themselves constitute copyright works in some cases.

Infringement: the following acts constitute infringement if carried out without the permission of the copyright owner: the copying of the database or substantial part thereof; the making of an adaptation of the database or a substantial part (adaptation includes the making of an arrangement or an altered version of the database or a translation of it). Also considered acts of infringement are the importation into the U.K., the possession in the course of a business, the selling or letting for hire, or offer or exposure for sale or hire and the exhibition in public or distribution in the course of a business of an infringing copy of the database, as well as the distribution other than in the course of a business of an infringing copy to such an extent as to prejudicially affect the owner of the copyright.

Permitted acts: it is not an infringement of copyright in a database for a “lawful user” to do anything which is necessary for the purposes of the exercise of his right to use the database. Fair dealing with a database for the purposes of research or private study does not infringe any copyright in the database provided that the source is indicated. Research for commercial purposes is not considered fair dealing. Other acts permitted for all “lawful users” of a database include making necessary backup copies and decompilation, under strict conditions. Decompilation may be solely for the purpose of making inter-operable software (“the permitted objective”), if and only if the “lawful user” (i) confines the decompiling to such acts as are necessary to achieve the permitted objective, (ii) does not already have readily available the information necessary to achieve the permitted objective, and (iii) neither supplies the information obtained to any person to whom it is not necessary in order to achieve the permitted objective nor uses the information to create a database which is substantially similar to the database decompiled. A “lawful user” may copy or adapt a database, provided that the copying or adapting is necessary for his lawful use and is not prohibited under any terms of an agreement regulating lawful use, and may make copy or adapt a program for the purpose of correcting errors. Databases are excluded from protection of moral rights. Infringement on a commercial scale or involving devices for circumvention of copy protection measures may also incur criminal liabilities. 

Duration: copyright in a database qualifying as a “literary work” expires seventy years from the end of the calendar year in which the author dies.

Database Right: a property right automatically subsists in a database if there has been a substantial investment in obtaining, verifying or presenting the contents of the database, and the maker is a national or habitual resident of the U.K.

Maker: the maker of a database is defined as the person who takes the initiative in making the database and assumes the risks in the making of the database. If an employee in the course of his employment makes a database, the employer is regarded as the maker (subject to an agreement to the contrary).

Ownership: the maker of a database is the first owner of the database right in it.

Infringing acts: extraction or “re-utilization” of all or a substantial part of the database without permission of the owner. “Re-utilization” is defined specifically as making any of the contents of the database available to the public by any means. Repeated and systematic extraction or re-utilization of insubstantial parts of the contents of a database may amount to extraction or re-utilization of all or a substantial part of the database. Whether a copying of a database constitutes a substantial copying is construed by the court as relating to the investment in the databases.

Permitted acts: extraction or “re-utilization” is permitted for purposes of illustration for teaching or research (but not for teaching or research for a commercial purpose), provided the source is identified. Certain exceptions to database right are made for public administration purposes. For example there is no infringement where the contents of the database is open to public inspection pursuant to a statutory requirement or in the case where material in the database has been communicated to the Crown in the course of public business, or where acts have been done under statutory authority.

Term of protection: expires at the end of the period of fifteen years from the end of the calendar year in which the database was completed, or if made available to the public before completion, then fifteen years from when first made available to the public. Any substantial change in the database, including the results of cumulative changes, qualifies the resulting database for its own term of protection.

Transitional provisions: where a database has been created on or before March 27, 1996, and is a copyright work before commencement, then copyright continues to subsist in the database for the remainder of its copyright term. Database right was extended in 2003 to makers connected with the Isle of Man.