In part 1 of 'whose data is it anyway',
we considered the position of Football DataCo and Betgenius, with
particular reference to the experience of a Hull City fan who was
questioned in relation to "unauthorised data
gathering" during a match against Reading. In this, the
final part of our two-part series, Sport Shorts considers whether
anyone actually owns the data gathered at football matches and if
Football DataCo is entitled to prevent people from collecting such
data.
Does Football DataCo own the data gathered at football
matches?
On its website, Football DataCo states that it represents the data rights of the English and
Scottish professional football leagues. What are these data rights?
Well, organisations like Football DataCo have to rely on two
intellectual property rights to protect their data –
copyright and database right. Both these rights require information
to be held in a database and protect the database itself rather
than the data created by the
