The British High Court has held that under section 3A of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1998, English and Scottish football fixture lists are protected by database copyright. Section 3A implements Article 3 of the Database Directive (96/9/EC).
Justice Floyd J found that the process of preparing the lists was not merely the application of rigid criteria to the processing of data, but rather involved very significant labour and skill.
COMMENT
This decision will be welcomed by UK football organisations and other sporting bodies that compile their fixtures in a similar way to that of the English and Scottish football leagues and ends the uncertainty followed the ECJ judgment in British Horseracing Board Ltd v William Hill Organisation [2004] ECR 1-10415, and the three parallel judgments in the cases in Greece, Finland and Sweden brought by Fixtures Marketing Ltd. The Israel Supreme Court upheld a decision of the District Court that such fixtures were not copyright in Israel. I think both positions are acceptable. However, I disagree most strongly with the Israel Court finding no case of Unjust Enrichment.
See: English and Scottish Football Leagues Sue Israel Score Draw Competition
Case: Football Dataco Ltd and others v Brittens Pools and others [2010] EWHC 841 (Ch), 23 April 2010
