4 ms·
Yes they are, you can assert rights on a collection of facts that you have collected. A database containing the location of every tree in the UK would be a piec
by gubby 9y ago
Yes they are, you can assert rights on a collection of facts that you have collected. A database containing the location of every tree in the UK would be a piece of protectable intellectual property.
- pjc50 9y agoThis is jurisdiction-specific; the UK has a right in databases (as part of EU law) but the US has an "originality" requirement.
- redcalx 9y agoOr indeed, houses. E.g. postcode database.
- justinclift 9y agoAs a reference data point, the official UK Postcode database: https://data.gov.uk/dataset/national-statistics-postcode-lookup-uk https://data.gov.uk/dataset/national-statistics-postcode-loo... :)
- tinus_hn 9y agoAlthough in some jurisdictions such a right exists, it is not copyright. The US constitution limits the restrictions on free speech caused by copyrights and patents and does not allow generic database rights systems that you find in the EU.
- jordigh 9y agoThere isn't "intellectual property", there is copyright, utility, patents, trademarks, design patents, ship hull design rights, and a bunch of others. What's the law that gives people in some jurisdictions exclusive rights over collected data? Is it copyright again? I ask because I would like to learn more about this law, and it's difficult to do so if I don't even know what it's called. The term "intellectual property" adds confusion towards understanding the particulars. Btw, as an interesting bit of trivia, the lack of copyrightability of data is why we have fun things like paper towns and other copyright traps: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phantom_settlement https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phantom_settlement