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ARTICLE · 01 APRIL 2010

Copyright in Databases and Compilations: The Telstra Telephone Directories Case

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February 2010 decision of the Federal Court in Telstra Corporation Limited & Anor v Phone Directories Company Pty Ltd & Ors [2010] FCA 44 (Telstra Directories Case) raises significant obstacles to any party seeking to establish copyright in databases compiled from factual information.

AustraliaIntellectual Property
Ashleigh Fehrenbach
Ashleigh Fehrenbach
Cate Sendall
Cate Sendall

Does copyright subsist in a database or compilation under Australian law?

Telstra Corporation Limited & Anor v Phone Directories Company Pty Ltd &Ors [2010] FCA 44 (8 February 2010)

Overview

The February 2010 decision of the Federal Court in Telstra Corporation Limited & Anor v Phone Directories Company Pty Ltd & Ors [2010] FCA 44 (Telstra Directories Case) raises significant obstacles to any party seeking to establish copyright in databases compiled from factual information.

In the Telstra Directories Case, her Honour Justice Gordon was required to consider whether copyright subsisted in various telephone directories. Justice Gordon determined that the telephone directories were not original literary works in which copyright could subsist. In reaching this decision, Justice Gordon considered the issues of authorship and originality to be closely tied.

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