Brussels, 13/12/2005 (Agence Europe) - On 12 December, the European Commission published an evaluation of the protection EU law gives to databases. EU law protects databases by copyright if they are sufficiently creative. Other databases, especially those that are compilations of information or commonplace data, such as telephone directories, music charts or football match listings, may benefit from a new form of protection introduced by the 1996 Database Directive. This protection is known as the 'sui generis' database right, i.e. a specific property right for databases that is unrelated to other forms of protection such as copyright. The evaluation was conducted on the basis of two information sources: first, an online survey addressed to the European database industry carried out by the Commission in August and September 2005; and second, the Gale Directory of Databases (“the GDD”), which is the largest existing database directory and contains statistics indicating the growth of the global database industry since the 1970s. Individual views expressed outside the stakeholder survey were also taken into account. On the basis of the information available, the evaluation finds that the economic impact of the “sui generis” right on database production is unproven. However, the European publishing industry, consulted in the online survey, argued that “sui generis” protection is crucial to the continued success of their activities. It also looks at whether the scope of the right targets those areas where Europe needs to encourage innovation. Stakeholders are invited to comment on the evaluation by 12 March 2006.