As technology makes copying easier and better, areas which once were set aside as copyright free zones are finding their way back to the courts.
Databases: In the past, collections of facts or data have been left largely unprotected. Except for arrangement, which is protected, data has been free because of the desire to avoid granting a monopoly right in facts. Baseball statistics certainly fall under this area, but have the added element of the players’ work and personality (which are claimed to be tied in to the stats). Usually this type of protection falls under privacy, but it’s hard to see how public baseball games could apply here. It almost seems as though it is the use of this collection of the data what the leauges see as the problem. The use of one statistic couldn’t be protected, but perhaps when grouped together… (the work, or “sweat of the brow” in gathering statistics hasn’t been protected in the past).
Time shifting: Recording a television or show to view later has been protected since the Sony Betamax case. While the courts rejected the idea of “space shifting” in the mp3.com case, an XM Radio recorder is now coming under fire. The difference here is that digital material is easier to copy and creates nearly perfect copies.
These decisions could have a great impact on the scope of what users can do, and what creators can protect.