Case law

Information on case law as it specifically relates to geodata. (See also: Statute law.)

General

Onsrud & Lopez, "Intellectual Property Rights in Disseminating Digital Copyright Data", is a rare detailed treatment of issues in EU and US case and statute law. See also Onsrud's later Geographic Information Legal Issues.

A good summary of database right case law is here.

University of Freiburg vs Directmedia Publishing
- Suggests that an infringement can be made even if the database is copied indirectly (e.g. transcribing from a map, not just downloading the original db)
- Summary: [1]

British Horseracing Board Ltd vs William Hill (2001 and subsequent)
- Definitive case on database right.
- Analysis: [2], [3], [4], [5]
- Google for lots more.
Designer Guild Ltd vs Russell Williams Textiles Ltd (2002)"'
- Discusses 'substantial part' of a copyrighted work, and originality.
- Analysis: [6]

Feist Publications, Inc. v. Rural Telephone Service Company, Inc
- Pivotal Supreme Court judgement that facts cannot be copyrighted, nor can mere compilations of those facts. Extinguished the concept of "sweat of the brow" alone meriting protection.
- Analysis: [7], [8]
Sparaco vs. Lawler, Matusky et. al
- Analysis: [9]
Stone v Pinon
- Analysis: [10]
Mason v Montgomery Data
- Judgement: [11]
- Appears to draw a distinction between factual geodata (cannot be copyrighted) and cartographic "expression" (can be copyrighted)
A round-up of US Map Copyright Litigation, 1789-1998

Telstra Corporation Limited v Desktop Marketing Systems Pty Ltd

Australian decision follow the UK, rather than the US, lines of reasoning.

The intellectual property laws across Scandinavia have a lot in common. Even Norway and Iceland have implemented the relevant EU directives.