Sporting decision boosts database rights
Thursday 15 July
UK High Court decision on football fixtures indicates the level of originality required for databases to benefit from copyright protection
Colin Sawdy of EAPD analyses the judgment
On 23 April 2010, the High Court in Football Dataco Limited and others v. Brittens Pools Limited and others [1] handed down a judgment in favour of the Football Association Premier League Limited and the Scottish Premier League Limited in their efforts to protect the fixture lists for the English and Scottish football premier leagues and football leagues. The decision provides guidance as to what rights may subsist in databases, with the result that commercial users of football fixture lists will now have to pay for a licence.