Database publishers have often had a difficult time protecting their database against unscrupulous people who come along and copy it, place their own name on it and make money off it.  The courts have often been reluctant to protect databases as copyrighted works and, in the rare instance where they do, the courts usually afford them such thin protection as to allow just about any copying so long as it does not result in an identical copy.  As a result, database owners have been somewhat reluctant to attempt to enforce what rights they may have in their database in the courts.

But every so often a database publisher comes along who feels they have a good enough case to justify the risk of bringing their case before the court.  SaleTraq is just such a publisher.

SalesTraq compiles, arranges and owns a database of about 17,000 different models of residential properties in the Las Vegas area.  The database contains not only the usual information one might find in a database of residential properties (such as floor plans, measurements, features and location), but also includes the properties’ key attributes as determined by SalesTraq.  SalesTraq distributes the database to its customers through a fee-based subscription that is accessible through the SalesTraq website, and by providing the database on CD-ROM or DVD to its subscribers on a monthly basis. More...

If the beginning of 2009 is any indication, there seems to be a couple of new trends in copyright litigation.  The first trend is suits alleging copyright infringement against those who illegally access a copyright owner's website to view copyright content that they don't have permission to view.  Presumably, such illegal access violates the copyright owner's exclusive rights of display and distribution under the Copyright Act.   Examples of these claims can be seen in two cases:

• CoStar Realty Information sued Dumann Realty for copyright infringement in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland, alleging that the defendant’s managers illegally accessed the CoStar website by using another customer’s user information to access the site.  Through its website, CoStar provides its clients with real estate information by charging a subscription which costs hundreds of dollars a month.  In the complaint, CoStar argues that, by accessing its website illegally, Dumann’s managers engaged in the illegal distribution of CoStar’s content in violation of the Copyright Act.  Costar is demanding that Dumann pay $150,000 for each instance of infringement.

More...