Judgment of the Court (Third Chamber) of 18 October 2012 (reference for a preliminary ruling from the Court of Appeal of England and Wales (Civil Division) - United Kingdom) - Football Dataco Ltd, Scottish Premier League Ltd, Scottish Football League, PA Sport UK Ltd v Sportradar GmbH, Sportradar AG
(Case C-173/11)
(Directive 96/9/EC - Legal protection of databases - Article 7 - Sui generis right - Database relating to football league matches in progress - Concept of re-utilisation - Localisation of the act of re-utilisation)
Language of the case: English
Referring court
Court of Appeal of England and Wales (Civil Division)
Parties to the main proceedings
Applicants: Football Dataco Ltd, Scottish Premier League Ltd, Scottish Football League, PA Sport UK Ltd
Defendant: Sportradar GmbH, Sportradar AG
Re:
Reference for a preliminary ruling - Court of Appeal of England and Wales (Civil Division) - Interpretation of Directive 96/9/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 March 1996 on the legal protection of databases (OJ 1996 L 77, p. 20), in particular Article 7 - Right of the maker of a database to prevent extraction and/or re-utilisation of part of the contents of the database - Concepts of extraction and re-utilisation (Article 7(2) of the directive) - Database containing information on football matches in progress ('Football Live')
Operative part of the judgment
Article 7 of Directive 96/9/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 March 1996 on the legal protection of databases must be interpreted as meaning that the sending by one person, by means of a web server located in Member State A, of data previously uploaded by that person from a database protected by the sui generis right under that directive to the computer of another person located in Member State B, at that person's request, for the purpose of storage in that computer's memory and display on its screen, constitutes an act of 're-utilisation' of the data by the person sending it. That act takes place, at least, in Member State B, where there is evidence from which it may be concluded that the act discloses an intention on the part of the person performing the act to target members of the public in Member State B, which is for the national court to assess.
____________1 - OJ C 194, 2.7.2011.