Re: [Commons-l] De-Zoomifying 50, 000 images from the Imperial War Museum

Hi Fae Database rights could indeed be significant here, whether or not they have been mentioned by the IWM. Under sections 13 and 14 of the Copyright and Rights in Databases Regulations 1997, the IWM will have database rights in the contents of their database of images assuming that there has been a ‘substantial investment in obtaining, verifying or presenting the contents' of the database. That is likely to be the case. Those database rights will remain in force under s 17(2) for 15 years from the date on which the IWM first made the database available to the public (actually, to the end of the 15th year). During that period, database right will be infringed by any person who, without consent, ‘extracts or re-utilises all or a substantial part of the contents of the database’, whether all at once or by repeated extractions of ‘insubstantial’ parts. On the other hand, any lawful user of the database is has a right under s19(1) 'to extract or re-utilise insubstantial parts of the data for any purpose’, and that right cannot be restricted by the database owner (s19(2)). The critical term ‘substantial’ is defined to mean ‘substantial in terms of quantity or quality or a combination of both’. Applying the law to the IWM database suggests that you would be OK to extract and reuse an ‘insubstantial’ part, but that it would be unlawful to extract more than that until after the end of the 15 year term. Given the huge practical uncertainty as to how the courts would interpret ‘insubstantial’ in this context, it would be sensible for your own protection to proceed with extreme caution. You have not mentioned Wikimedia UK, and my understanding is that your work with these images is being done entirely independently and not as a Wikimedia UK volunteer. Given the potential legal and reputational risks that may be involved in an incorrect judgement call on what constitutes ‘insubstantial’ this is not an area that the charity can to get involved with in any way. Best regards Michael ____________ Michael Maggs Chair, Wikimedia UK On 2 Jun 2014, at 13:49, Fæ <faewik(a)gmail.com> wrote: