Big Data: Legal Challenges (Full Report)
Copyright typically extends to cover original compilations of
data. However the Courts have been careful to make clear that such
protection does not cover the data itself but rather the particular
collection of it. This distinction is in line with the classic
division in copyright law between non-protectable ideas and
protectable expression of those ideas.
The way in which the balance between expression and ideas has
been achieved in different jurisdictions, and the test for
originality in the context of databases varies from country to
country.
It is instructive to consider precedents set in several
territories:
Australia
The position in relation to copyright in compilations and
databases in Australia was defined by the decision of the High
Court in IceTV Pty Ltd v Nine Network Australia Pty
Ltd10 ("IceTV") and the subsequent
decision of the Full Federal Court in Telstra Corporation
Limited v Phone Directories
