Database Protection in Europe - Recent Developments and Modest Proposal

The controversial provisions in the European Union’s Database Directive have created considerable uncertainty for commercial producers of databases, while recent case law has emasculated much of the Directive. However, researchers and academics must still work in a restrictive copyright environment within Europe. This paper reviews the Directive in the light of two recent UK reports that suggest a more liberal copyright regime is both culturally and economically desirable. The author suggests that unfair competition problems should be addressed by new unfair competition laws for Ireland and the UK and not through revision of the Directive.