Ask HN: Creating multiple DB's by hand for use in WebApp?

Has anyone ever needed data from a source which doesn't provide it in a machine-readable form? Do people here have any suggestions as to the legal ramifications of putting a collection of various industries' data to use in a context such data was never intended to facilitate? Use Case: Motorized Window Treatment Industry: Some vendors have their own db in place for use by their own configuration software- don't know if we'd be permitted to use in our own configurator which covers not only that vendor's parts, but also (sometimes undocumented) uses of parts which interface with each other, depending on the specific combo of parts in use. Our configurator app would take into consideration all the players in the industry, whereas theirs only helps with their own sales. I'm imagining it may be beneficial to start our app in something like a 'learning' mode where stuff that wasn't as clear as day can be identified as 'compatible' with maybe a star rating of how well the particular interfacing between selected components, similarly to the WineHQ application database does for Linux computers.