The so-called Database Protection bill, which is moving through congress, could block the public’s access to facts, which are available on the Internet for free and easy to find via Google, Yahoo! and other search engines, opponents of the bill say.
The Database and Collections of Information Misappropriation Act (HR3261) says any person who copies and distributes a substantial part of the information in a commercial database without proper authorization shall be liable to the owner of the database.
The bill defines information as facts, data, works of authorship, or any other intangible material capable of being generated or gathered.
Proponents for the bill include the Software and Information Industry Association; Reed Elsevier, which owns the LexisNexis database; and Westlaw, which publishes FindLaw and other legal databases.
The House Judicial Committee approved the bill and the Energy and Commerce Committee has until March 12, 2004 to act on it.
Gigi B. Sohn, president of the public advocacy group Public Knowledge, says “This legislation could cause many problems by giving select companies control over information forever, which could impair creative and scholarly research and writing, stifle business investment, lead to unproductive litigation and, most importantly, deprive the public of access to facts to which they are entitled.”
American Library Association said in a statement posted on its web site, “This bill challenges the traditional notions of ‘fair use’ and goes further in seeking copyright protection for the facts held within the database.” ALA added, “Facts have never been eligible for copyright protection. Furthermore, the bill could create perpetual ownership rights in a wide variety of data.”
The bill was introduced by Representative Coble (R-NC) and co-sponsored by Rep Hobson (R-OH), Rep Greenwood (R-PA), Rep Sensenbrenner (R-W), Rep Smith (R-TX), and Rep Tauzin (R-LA).
Opponents of the bill include Google, Yahoo!, Amazon, AT&T, Comcast, Verizon, Bloomberg, Charles Schwab and the American Association of Libraries.
(via Library of Congress)
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