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Fixture lists 'protected by database copyright law'
Football fixture lists are protected by database copyright law but not any other form of copyright, a High Court judge ruled today in a preliminary skirmish over whether charges can be made for their use.
Five claimants, including the FA Premier League, are alleging that five defendants are using the lists without a licence.
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Mr Justice Floyd was asked to decide whether the lists were covered by copyright, a claim denied by the defendants.
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The judge said the work in compiling the fixture lists in England and Scotland involved "very significant labour and skill".
After trawling through national and European law, he concluded that the lists were the subject of database copyright.
He said: "It seems to me that the only way in which the fixture lists could conceivably attract copyright is by virtue of the collection and arrangement of the data contained in them, that it is say as a database.
"It follows that I do not see any scope for the subsistence of copyright by any other route."
There will be a future hearing to decide what order to make in the light of the judgment and to hear any applications to appeal.
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Saturday 26 May 2012
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