From “Compilations” to “Sui Generis Right”: Which Approach to Digital Database Protection?

Abstract

Databases under the Berne Convention 1886, the TRIPS Agreement 1994 and the WIPO Copyright Treaty 1996 are copyrighted as “compilations”. The EU has initiated the establishment of sui generis database right of Intellectual Property protection. Meanwhile, the United States refuses to apply the same system. This article addresses the question: What lessons for Vietnam to build an appropriate mechanism for such valuable assets of the digital era as databases?