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A comment on AggData: Datasets created from scraping the web. Parent comment

Re:AggData: Datasets created from scraping the web by cschneid on Thursday September 24, 2009 @11:59AM (#841437)
"The collection as a whole" isn't necessarily copyrightable as far as I know (not that I'm anywhere near a lawyer...). I think curated collections (say, of short stories) are copyrightable since it requires artistic decisions to be made, but a website like McDonalds that has a big list of locations is just a statement of fact, with no artistic basis.

Maps have artwork that is protected, and phone books have page layout, font choice, etc. I don't think that textual addresses of a set of facts would be protected, but I think that it's a gray area of law that hasn't been decided.

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Re:AggData: Datasets created from scraping the web by evgen on Thursday September 24, 2009 @12:42PM (#841532)
It is not just the "artwork" of a map that is protected, or else you would see people turning online map databases into collections of lines and points. The entire collection, as a whole, can be subject to a compilation copyright. This is why mapmakers put in little bits of fake data, so that if their fake data turns up in your map they can nail you for copyright infringement.
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