Open Science for Arts, Design and Music/Guidelines/Data

Data and Databases

Copyright in Switzerland related to data and databases

A data itself, as raw data, which corresponds to a mere fact of nature such as a formula, an algorithm, a temperature, an information, is not protected by copyright and has no ownership. To date, it is not legally possible to own data like owning any material good. In fact, the legal nature of a data is controversial, majority of the doctrine stating that non physical goods cannot be subject to property rights, in contrast with other authors who consider data as res digitalis, thus amenable to property rights.

What is subject to copyright is the form of expression the author gives a data, if such form of expression has originality (link to copyright requirements), whereas the logic or concept behind the form of expression given to it is not protected by copyright. For this reason, for instance, copying a chart (without permission and without fitting into one exception) is a violation of copyright, while creating a different chart with the same concept/logic is not a violation of copyright.

Regarding the character of originality: a list, a chart, a diagram, a scheme composed of data made by a person is protected by copyright if there is originality in the selection of data and in the way data are filled in the list/chart or in the way the chart is portrayed; whereas for instance a list of data organized alphabetically is not protected, because it lacks originality.

Regardless of the form of the individual data and pursuant to art. 4/1 Swiss Copyright Act, a database is protected by copyright if there is originality in its structure and in the selection of data composing it. The Swiss legislation differs from the European one, the latter setting a sui generis right that protects a database "which shows that there has been qualitatively and/or quantitatively a substantial investment in either the obtaining, verification or presentation of the contents", even if it lacks originality. However, if a database may benefit from a certain kind of protection, the individual data (if not expressed in an original form) is not subject to ownership, neither of intellectual property rights, nor of civil property.