(Definition) Article 2 In this Act, the meanings of the terms listed in the following items shall be as prescribed respectively in those items… 10-3 Database means a collection of articles, numerical values, figures, and other information that is systematically organized so that such information can be retrieved using a computer.
(Works in database) Article 12-2 Any database that has creativity through the selection or systematic organization of its information shall be protected as a work. 2. The provisions of the preceding paragraph shall not affect the rights of the author of the work constituting the database portion of the same paragraph.
What is the degree of creativity required for database works?
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Tokyo District Court, March 17, 2000 “Town Page Database Case” decision
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The occupation classification system of the Townpages database was constructed to cover all occupations by classifying individual occupations and stacking them in a hierarchical manner from the viewpoint of convenience of search, and is a unique device of the plaintiff. Therefore, it can be said that the Townpages database, which classifies telephone number information by occupation according to such an occupation classification system, is a database work that has creativity through its systematic structure as a whole.
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Appeal for Injunction against Copyright Infringement, Intellectual Property High Court, January 19, 2016, Judgment, No. (ne) 10038 of 2014
- Decisions about cases in which a portion of a relational database is extracted from a relational database
- [Database Copyright Infringement | Soyoung International Patent & Law Office https://www.soei.com/blog/2016/06/15/%E3%83%87%E3%83%BC%E3%82%BF%E3%83%99%E3%83%BC%E3%82%B9%E3%81%AE%E8% 91%97%E4%BD%9C%E6%A8%A9%E4%BE%B5%E5%AE%B3/]
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Case No. (wa) 9426, 2000 Injunction against use of database
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The creativity of the database should be judged by considering (i) how many tables should be created, (ii) what field items should be assigned to each table, and (iii) what kind of association should be made between the tables, based on the concept of what kind of usable database should be provided to users. (iii) What kind of associations should be made between those tables. Then, depending on what is taken from newspapers and pamphlets as raw information and how they are related to each other, a database of a thousand different types can be created.
- http://tyosaku.hanrei.jp/hanrei/cr/2891.html
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Automobile maintenance business database case
- Database case for automobile maintenance business (Tsubasa System case)
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The information items included in the database in this case are items that need to be entered in automobile inspection certificates and vehicle types. In fact, these data items are selected in the databases of other companies as well, and it is not recognized that this database has creativity in the selection of data items.
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It is recognized that the database in this case is arranged in the order shown in the Exhibit “Classification of Data Items and Their Attributes, etc.”, starting from the oldest vehicle by type designation and classification number, and that there is no further classification in the vehicle databases of other vendors. It is also recognized that other car databases of other companies also adopt the structure of arranging the data items in the order of the type designation and the classification number.
- https://www.jfpi.or.jp/files/user/pdf/data/Chizai_no16.pdf
Cases in which reproduction and sale of a work constitutes a tort even if it is not a database work (subject to Damages for tortious behavior)
- Tokyo District Court, May 25, 2001, “Automobile Maintenance Business Database Case” decision.
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When a person engages in business activities by creating a database by collecting and organizing information at a cost and effort, and then manufacturing and selling the database, the act of selling a database created by duplicating the data of the database in an area that competes with the person’s sales area, In a trading society based on the principle of fair and free competition, the act of infringing on the legally protected business interests of others by using extremely unfair means may constitute a tort.
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