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A European Directive (96/09/EEC) has organised in the whole European Union a common regulation for the protection of databases.

This Directive has been implemented in Belgium by the law of August 31, 1998 on databases.

What to protect?

Databases are considered to be a collection of works, data or other independent elements. One should dispose the above-mentioned databases in a systematic or methodical manner and should be individually accessible by electronic means or other, as for instance a database paper support.

Protection also applies to elements necessary for functioning and/or consulting the above-mentioned databases, like an index, lexicon, etc.

Thus, protection basically focuses upon the form and not upon the content.

Who is protected?

The creator holds the right of intellectual ownership on databases. He is the physical person or group of physical persons who have created the databases.

It is already specified in the European Directive 96/09/EEC that in case the national legislation authorises it, a moral entity can also be the holder of these rights.

In Belgium, the law on databases, used the notion "producer" as referring to a physical or moral person benefiting from this protection.

When is one protected?

Protection starts whenever the production of databases is achieved. This does not necessarily involve publication.

Protection takes 15 years and starts:

• either from January 1st, following the date whereupon production of the databases was achieved,
• either on January 1st, following the date whereupon the database was made public for the first time,
• either on January 1st, following the date of any substantial modification allowing for the creation of a new database ; the latter having the benefit of protection.

It is the creator or manufacturer who is in charge of proving the date of production achievement or of substantial modification of databases.

How to protect?

In Europe, there is no obligation to register.

However, it is necessary to be able to prove the date of creation; therefore, it is highly recommended to foresee means to provide proof.

Otherwise, it is recommended to insert with all publications the creator's name or the entitled party's name, followed by the date of creation and the © acronym. This, however, involves no obligation for other formalities, such as filings, registrations, etc.

However, in order to prove your copyrights, it is necessary to turn, for instance, to a public notary, or to proceedures foreseen by the national laws like registration proceedures or others to establish the creation date.