Vol 7 No 1 - Roger Williams University School of Law

Database Protection in the DigitalInformation AgeCharles R. McManis *It would be an atrocious doctrine to hold that dispatches,the result of the diligence and expenditure of one man,could with impunity be pilfered and published byanother . . . . The mere fact that a certain class ofinformation is open to all that seek it, is no answer to aclaim to a right of property in such information made by aperson who, at his own expense and by his own labor, hascollected it.1INTRODUCTIONAs industries in the global market increasingly come to relyon electronic compilations of data,2 calls for new, sui generis formsof legal protection for databases have grown apace. Yet, as thequotation above illustrates, the issue of data protection is notnew—nor is the world without precedent in determining how theissue of data protection ought to be resolved.*Professor of Law, Washington University in St. Louis; B.A., 1964, Birmingham-Southern College; M.A. (Philosophy); J.D., 1972, Duke University. The authorgratefully acknowledges the research assistance of Christopher R. Alder, J.D., 2001,Washington University in St. Louis, who also provided initial drafts of portions of thisarticle. The author is likewise indebted to Washington University law librarians, HylaBondareff and Katrina Stierholz, for their research assistance at several critical pointsin the preparation of this article. Finally, the author gratefully acknowledges theinsightful comments and suggestions of Justin Hughes, Visiting Professor of Law,UCLA School of Law, who graciously read and commented up an initial draft of thisarticle.1. Kiernan v. Manhattan Quotation Telegraph Co., 50 How. Pr. 194, 14 C.O.Bull. 1493 (N.Y. Sup. Ct. 1876).2. See Robert M. O’Neil, Campus Database Issues, 27 J.C. & U.L. 109 (2000).237