Is the Sui Generis Right a Failed Experiment?

Controversial from its inception, the European Database Directive protects unoriginal contents in contrast to the United States where there is no statutory protection. Despite this extra incentive, empirical evidence seems to indicate that database production in the European Community remains largely unchanged while that in the United States is increasing, at least in the short term.

Dissatisfaction with the Directive has sparked efforts to revise database protection policy, including by the European Commission. In order to determine the best method of regulation, three factors are explored in this Ph.D. thesis: The nature of the database industry, regulatory theories emanating from economic analysis of the law and the evidence offered by the US and EC protection regimes.