Re: aspell-nl license
Peter Makholm wrote:
> Branden Robinson <branden@debian.org> writes:
> > I am curious because traditionally, copyright has been grounded on the
> > degree of originality in a work, not the quantity of labor that went
> > into producing it.
>
> Traditionally yes. But in the European Union the database directive
> made it possible to copyright works only based on people putting some
> work in it. It's not as strong as the real copyrigt though only 15
> years.
A collection of facts (like word lists) can be protected by real
copyright (life+70) if there is originality in the selection
criterion. It is up to the collector to demonstrate what the
criterion was and how that is original, but if he can do that,
there is no way to deny him copyright.
The database right is really separate from copyright, and indeed
the only requirement is a "substantial investment" in time, money,
effort etc in creation. Duration is 15 years from creation, but
every time you update the database you get another 15 years.
So if I make a collection with names of the hundred greatest
poets, that collection is both copyrighted and a protected database.
> (But at least in the danish implementation fof the directive som
> exceptions to the real copyright doesn't hold for database copyright)
That's because it's not a copyright. It's an entirely new regime
for protection of IP.
Arnoud
--
Arnoud Engelfriet, (almost) Dutch patent attorney - Speaking only for myself
Patents, copyright and IPR explained for techies: http://www.iusmentis.com/
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