Intellectual Property - Copyright Protection for Telephone Directory on Cd-Rom

Under the Dutch Copyright Act, copyright attaches to each original work which bears the personal mark of the creator. Of old, the Act has also protected non-original works in written form, such as telephone directories, television program data and train schedules, against direct copying. The information itself is not protected, but only the form in which it has been presented.

In a decision of 10 July 1996 the President of the District Court of Haarlem has ruled that such copyright protection also extends to PTT Telecom's telephone directory on CD-rom. This electronic directory had been copied by the Vuurwerk (Fireworks) company which subsequently made the directory available on the Internet under the name WebTel. Following the court injunction PTT Telecom has issued its own electronic telephone directly on the Internet. Apparently its popularity had not been foreseen as PTT Telecom had to temporarily close the site due to the lines being blocked too often.