Jeez, I totally missed this one... front page WSJ today:
DATABASE PROTECTION is shaping up as a big copyright battleground.
As databases proliferate, so do quiestions about who has rights to use the data, particularly on the internet. At stake is access to data as diverse as baseball-card trivia and medical research. Debate over user rights "will be the most hotly contested copyright legislation coming up this year", says Stephen Fishman, author of Copyright Handbook, published by Nolo Press, Berkely, Calif. Last year, a spate of new copyrightlaws were passed, encompassing such varied items as music that can be played in cafes and boat design.
In January, a bill was introduced in Congress to protect database publishers from piracy. And the music industry's continuing fight against online pirating of songs will be closely watched by movie studios that want to someday comprress and sell movies online, says Richard Stim, a copyright attorney in San Francisco.
DAK |
