Legal protection of databases

The rising importance of technological development especially in Europe and the USA, which are the largest producers of databases, requires an internationally unified regulation for the protection of databases. The aim of this thesis is to present these issues and highlight the shortcomings of the current and proposed legislation in order to determine adequate legal protection of databases and how this can be achieved. The first chapter provides an overview of the definitions and the basic concepts. This includes the protection of databases by copyright and the sui generis right and a list of criteria in order to establish adequate legal protection. The second chapter outlines the legal protection of databases in the European Community, including the current legal system, its benefits and drawbacks and alternative protection to sui generis. Additionally the theories and current judicial practice are presented to further clarify the issue. The third chapter deals with the alternative legal protection to copyright of databases in the U.S. that in many ways differs from the European legislation. Similarly both copyright and database protection alternatives are presented in terms of legislation, case law and theories relevant to this area. The fourth and last chapter focuses on the international regulation of databases, and any potential changes in international regulation with regard to protecting databases. Moreover theories and rulings in this area are presented. Finally all the important points of this thesis are summarized and adequate legal measures for the protection of databases are suggested based on the advantages and disadvantages of the current forms of protection and judicial practice