Congress preparing to extend databases' copyright protections?

[Ann Okerson <ann.okerson@yale.edu>]

Of possible interest. The Moderators
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http://news.com.com/2100-1028_3-5072206.html?tag=cd_mh

By <http://news.com.com//2040-1096_3-0.html?tag=byline>Reuters
September 5, 2003, 2:50 PM PT

Lawmakers in the U.S. House of Representatives are circulating a proposed
bill that would prevent wholesale copying of school guides, news archives
and other databases that do not enjoy copyright protection.

The proposed bill would provide a legal umbrella for publishers of factual
information such as courtroom decisions and professional directories. The
measures would be similar to the copyright laws that protect music, novels
and other creative works.

The bill has not yet been introduced, but the Judiciary Committee and the
Energy and Commerce Committee will hold a joint hearing on the bill in the
coming weeks, a Commerce Committee spokesman said.

Backers of the measure say it would allow database providers to protect
themselves against those who simply cut and paste databases to resell them
or to make them available for free online.

Violators could be shut down and forced to pay triple the damages
incurred.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and consumer advocates said they plan to
write letters of protest soon, arguing that the bill could dramatically
limit the public's access to information. Database providers can protect
themselves through terms-of-service agreements with their customers, said
Joe Rubin, director of congressional and public affairs at the chamber.

"We think this is already dealt with under license and contract law, and
there's no reason to extend beyond that," Rubin said.

Sometimes user agreements do not provide enough protection, said Keith
Kupferschmid, a policy expert with the <http://www.siia.net/>Software and
Information Industry Association, which supports the bill.

In one instance, a Minnesota magazine publisher had no legal recourse when
its entire directory of local schools was copied and redistributed. In
other cases, operators of pornographic Web sites have copied real estate
listings and lawyers' directories to lure in unwitting visitors, he said.

The law could help those who make information available for free online,
Kupferschmid said. Reuters America, a unit of Reuters Group, is a member
of the trade group.

"If database producers know they have some law to fall back on, when
someone steals their database, they'll be much more willing to get that
information out there for free," he said. "Without that law, there's
really nothing to protect them."

Mike Godwin, senior technology counsel at the nonprofit group
<http://www.publicknowledge.org/>Public Knowledge, said the bill would
likely make information less freely available.

"Information, when not copyrighted, is something that can be shared. Once
you start putting fences around information...there's no freedom of
inquiry," said Godwin.

"That doesn't make us smarter, it makes us dumber," he said.
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