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Since I'm not clear about what information the print and online books
contain, I'm not sure if this is appropriate. (Remember, a database
doesn't have to be electronic.)
I know there was a case a couple of years ago similar to this issue, but
I can't find anything on it right now. Maybe it'll ring a bell with
someone else. It had to do with (I think) a guy--a college student--who
either created a database from address/phone info in a book or posted a
website containing info in a commercial database. The lawsuit ended up
turning on whether the content was merely a collection of facts or
whether there was something unique about the original collection's
presentation to warrant a copyright. I'd like to say that the courts
found it not a copyright violation, but I'm not absolutely sure (also,
evaluation of the presentation must be pretty subjective).
Another big factor in copyright is money, although here we end up
evaluating the practicality of breaking the law instead of the morality,
because if there's no money involved then there's not much of a case for
a civil suit against you. If this is your only concern, you must decide
whether you are cheating the original company out of revenue. In the
case stated above, I think the second guy was providing the info free of
cost, which impacted the original group's ability to sell their product.
In your case, are you avoiding having to buy more than one copy? If so,
then there is a measurable financial impact, exactly like a company
buying one Windows 95 licence and installing it on all their computers
or purchasing one Word for Dummies book and making copies of it. (I
find it hard to believe, though, that paying you to create and update a
database would be cheaper than buying multiple copies.) If the
copyright violation is for the purpose of creating another product for
sale, then there's an obvious intent to defraud and an obvious financial
impact. Remember, also, that recently a law was passed that makes
copyright violation crime if it involves over $2500.
I've done a lot of studying on this topic, and I still find myself
getting tripped up in the details--it's very complex. I'd think you'd
be in a better position by actually having a legal department, but
apparently not. I think you're right not to let it slide, however
realize that the whole copyright issue is in a fluid state right
now--particularly when it deals with intellectual property rights (for
software--like your database) and copyright on the Web. There's
actually a bill now to regulate links!!! (if it passes, you could be
held responsible for any copyright violations on the page you're linking
to!!!
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Sella Rush mailto:sellar -at- apptechsys -dot- com
Applied Technical Systems, Inc. (ATS)
Bremerton, Washington USA
Developers of the CCM Database
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