Vol 7 No 1 - Roger Williams University School of Law

the same, or substantially the same, as they appear inTelstra’s works. While there are differences, they are inthe detail. For example, when displayed on a screen, theinformation from the CD-rom does not appear as columnson a page. But the information can be retrieved inalphabetical order (by postcode rather than region) andcan be examined in much the same way as one wouldread a column on a page. The fact that the alphabeticallistings are by postcode and not region, is not a materialdifference. Nor is the fact that portions of theadvertisements are not reproduced. As regards theheadings, it is true that they appear once only in eachyellow pages directory and that the heading appears witheach business entry in the CD-roms. This difference isimmaterial. All the headings have been taken, as haveall the listings beneath those headings. The appearanceof the headings and the listings in the CD-roms issufficiently similar to constitute a reproduction.66The fear becomes that copyright law then takes on the job ofprotecting the compilation of data without adequate safeguardsagainst locking up information. With the emergence of sui generisdatabase regimes in Europe and, inevitably, the United States, itwill be interesting to see how that case is decided if it goes to ahigher court on appeal.2. Plant Breeder’s Rights—Are They Patents?For digital property to be eligible for legislative constructionand protection under the respective IP clauses, it must fall withinsome general notion of copyright or patent (and in Australia,design or trademark). A recent case on plant breeder’s rightsshows that, at least in Australia, the High Court is reluctant toconstrue the constitutional mandate too narrowly so as to excludeinnovative informational products.In Grain Pool of WA v. Commonwealth,67 the plaintiff claimedthat two Acts of the Parliament of the Commonwealth of Australiawere beyond the enumerated legislative powers of thatparliament. The High Court of Australia was asked to considerwhether the two pieces of legislation—the Plant Variety Rights66. Id. at paras. 104, 109.67. [2000] H.C.A. 14.