Editing Database right (section)

===European Union===
{{main|Database Directive}}
In [[European Union law]], '''database rights''' are specifically coded (i.e. ''[[sui generis]]'') laws on the copying and dissemination of information in [[database|computer databases]]. These rights were first introduced in 1996. On 11 March 1996 the [[Council of the European Union]] passed [[Database Directive|Directive 96/9/EC]] of 11 March 1996 on the legal protection of databases,<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://data.europa.eu/eli/dir/1996/9/oj/eng|title=Directive 96/9/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 March 1996 on the legal protection of databases|date=27 March 1996|access-date=27 August 2020}}</ref> giving specific and separate legal rights (and limitations) to certain computer records. The law calls these database rights. Rights afforded to manual records under EU database rights laws are similar in format, but not identical, to those afforded artistic works.

Database rights last for 15 years. Each time a database is substantially modified, however, a new set of rights are created for that database. An owner has the right to object to the copying of substantial parts of their database, even if data is extracted and reconstructed piecemeal. Database rights under the EU are created automatically, vested in the employers of creators (when the action of creation was part of employment), and do not have to be registered to have effect.

Database rights are independent of copyright: The arrangement, selection, and presentation of the data may be protected by copyright, while the database as a whole can be protected by database right.<ref>[http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:31996L0009#d1e757-20-1 Directive 96/9/EC, Article 7], paragraph 4</ref>