Computer-generated compilations not protected by copyright, says Full Federal Court

Telstra's mostly automated method of creating a compilation from a database means that the resulting compilation is not protected by the Copyright Act because the compilation is not a literary work originating in the intellectual effort of an individual (Telstra Corporation Limited v Phone Directories Company Pty Ltd [2010] FCAFC 149).

In rejecting Telstra's appeal the Full Federal Court has confirmed that the output from databases is unlikely to be protected by copyright without some intellectual effort or exercise of skill and judgment.

Why Telstra's directories aren't protected by copyright

Telstra and Sensis produce the Yellowpages and Whitepages directories from a database. The information in the directories is (mostly) rolled over from last year's. Changed or new information about individuals and businesses will be entered into a database by different people, some of whom are not employees but contractors, or even automatically by the computer system.