Databases "sui generis" right: should we adopt the spin-off theory?

Eight years have passed since the Database Directive was enacted. A relatively abundant body of case law has now emerged but courts remain divided or uncertain over a number of issues. One of them is the most important question of the protection requirement, the substantial investment. In order to protect its database, the database maker must show “that there has been qualitatively and/or quantitatively a substantial investment in either the obtaining, verification or presentation of the contents” (article 7.1 of the Directive).