[LEAPSECS] Olsen database taken offline

[Ian Batten]

On 6 Oct 2011, at 2034, Warner Losh wrote:


> The issue, in a nutshell, is that the Olsen database took facts from a book, transformed them in format and placed them into electronic form.  The reaction likely is one of an abundance of caution: STFU and stop if you are sued.

> 

> The merits of the case seem weak to me, since database do not have copyright protection.  Facts cannot be copyrighted any more than a telephone book.  


It's not as simple as that in EU law, and it appears not to be in US law.  See http://www.bitlaw.com/copyright/database.html --- the test for information being copyrightable is high, but not unattainable.

ian