HL Deb 30 June 2003 vol 650 cc672-4

7.49 p.m.

Lord Davies of Oldham rose to move, That the draft order laid before the House on 9th June be approved [22nd Report from the Joint Committee].

The noble Lord said: My Lords, the order declares an agreement, in the form of an exchange of letters between the European Community and the United Kingdom on behalf of the Isle of Man, to be a Community treaty, as defined in Section 1(2) of the European Communities Act 1972. The effect of declaring the agreement a "Community treaty" is that the provisions of the European Communities Act will then apply to it, and that will enable the Government to exercise powers under Section 2(2) of the Act to make subordinate legislation to give effect to the agreement.

The agreement binds the Community and the Isle of Man to provide for the mutual protection of rights in databases, in accordance with the provisions of Chapter III of Directive 96/9/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11th March 1996. Chapter III requires member states to provide a database maker with a sui generis right to prevent the unauthorised extraction and/or reutilisation of the whole, or a substantial part, of the contents of that database.

The directive applies to databases whose makers are European economic area nationals, residents or companies. However, databases made by non-EEA nationals, residents and companies may also be protected within the territory of the Community by the sui generis right. But such protection is not automatic and depends on agreements being concluded with the Council.

The Copyright and Rights in Databases Regulations 1997 (S.I. 1997/3032) implement the directive and establish a sui generis right in the United Kingdom for EEA databases. Part 2 of the isle's Copyright (Amendment) Act 1999 follows similar lines and makes provision for Isle of Man databases. In both cases, the sui generis right is called "database right". However, although British databases qualify for reciprocal sui generis protection throughout the European Community, that is not so for databases made by Manx companies and residents of the Isle of Man who are not EEA nationals.

The Manx Government therefore requested Her Majesty's Government to enter into negotiations with the European Commission with a view to concluding an agreement on its behalf that will provide EC-wide sui generis protection for Isle of Man databases. In return, the isle offered to protect EC databases in the Isle of Man by "database right". The Isle of Man could not, of course, conduct its own negotiations as it is a dependency of the Crown for whose international relations the United Kingdom is responsible.

The Council has declared itself satisfied that the Isle of Man's legislation offers equivalent sui generis protection to that offered by the Community and it has approved the agreement with the United Kingdom. The agreement was published in the Official Journal of the European Union on 5th April (No. L89, 5.4.2003) and as Command Paper No. Cm 5836 on 13th June 2003.1 beg to move.

Moved, That the draft order laid before the House on 9th June be approved [22nd Report from the Joint Committee].— (Lord Davies of Oldham.)

Baroness Miller of Hendon

My Lords, we agree with the order, as put forward by the Minister, and we thank him for explaining it so well. We understand that the Isle of Man Government are very happy with it and we have seen copies of the agreement.

Lord Clement-Jones

My Lords, we also thank the Minister for that lucid explanation. We on these Benches also support the order.

Earl Ferrers

My Lords, the noble Lord mentioned the words "sui generis" six times, I believe. What does he mean by that?

Lord Davies of Oldham

My Lords, it means that the databases, and what they represent in law, are governed by regulations. Therefore, one cannot come along with a generalised concept of computer material as it must relate to the specific concept of a database, as defined in the law.

On Question, Motion agreed to.