From: Greg Broiles <gbroiles@netbox.com>
Date: Thu, 21 Nov 1996 23:33:54 -0800 (PST)
To: "Richard L. Field" <field@pipeline.com>
Subject: Re: Database law... silver lining??
Message-ID: <3.0b28.32.19961121234708.00728b70@ricochet.net>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain


At 04:44 AM 11/22/96 GMT, you wrote:
>Real-To:  "Richard L. Field" <field@pipeline.com>
>
>  Should a database protection law such as HT 3531 be enacted in the U.S.,
>it just may turn out to be the best weapon yet for the protection of
>personal data.  Why shouldn't a "database" be interpreted to include an
>individual's personal data?  All that is required is that it be "arranged in
>a systematic or methodical way".  Heck, that's not so hard.  And a "database
>maker" isn't necessarily Lexis (the compiler of P-TRAK) and friends, it is
>each individual who originally made a "substantive" (i.e., lifetime)
>investment in the collection of the contents of his personal database.

Cute, but any such proposal is almost guaranteed to allow for independent
creation from a non-database source - e.g., warranty cards, info extracted
from you when you ask for credit, public records, etc. For example, one
comment to Article 3 of the proposed WIPO treaty on sui generis protection
of databases provides:

"3.02 The protection provided does not preclude any person from
independently collecting, assembling or compiling works, data or materials
from any source other than a protected database."

(see <http://www.loc.gov/copyright/wipo6.html> for more.)

It's very unlikely that Congress (or the PTO) intends to do anything
that'll screw up what's already working well for big database publishers.
Your theory is similar to a patent flavor for databases, while the
proposals floated out so far are much more like copyright - e.g.,
independent creation is OK, but copying is not, even with wide public
distribution, and long protection times. With patent, independent creation
is not OK, copying (the information, not the device) is encouraged/allowed,
and protection time is short.

[Friday, 11/22, is the deadline to submit comments to the PTO asking them
to withdraw consideration of the WIPO database treaty from the conference
in Geneva. (Or encouraging them to submit it, if that's your opinion.)
Comments can be sent to Mr. 
Keith Kupferschmid at diploconf@uspto.gov.)

--
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