Computer programs and databases are types of literary work for which EU Directives (the Software Directive (2009/24 EC) and the Database Directive (96/9/EC)) set special rules, which are implemented in the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 (CDPA). In addition, the Database Directive provides for a separate right in databases: database right (known as the sui generis right), which is implemented by the Copyright and Rights in Databases Regulations 1997.

●    Both computer programs and databases must be original in the sense of being the author’s own intellectual creation.

●    Computer programs:

    –    copyright protects only the expression of a program, not the ideas underlying its interfaces;

    –    there are protections to ensure that programs can be investigated and interoperable programs can be written.

●    Databases:

    –    copyright protects the ‘selection and arrangement’ of the database if it is original;

    –    database right protects against substantial amounts of data being extracted from the database, provided substantial investment went into gathering the data.