현행 저작권법에 의한 데이터베이스 보호의 문제점

Copyright Protection of Databases in the EU and Korea

Information and databases are vital to science, the legal system, education and so forth. Science and information technology rely immensely on unhindered access to databases. Important issues exist in relation to the regulation of access to databases. For example, current attempts to protect database by exclusive proprietary rights, expanding the scope of intellectual property (IP) protection to include uncopyrightable facts, will finally hinder the access to databases. This article attempts to provide legislative direction that would provide limited protection of databases and a return on investment as an incentive to create databases. Thus, it tries to find a way to preclude essential scientific data from privatising. This article provides the legislative history of the European Database Directive. By highlighting the similarity between, and problems of, the Directive and the current Copyright Act, the author tries to justify introduction of basic principles in an appropriate model for the legal protection of databases, that is based on liability regime.