Intellectual property rights and terminology management

The extent to which terminological information is covered by existing national copyright laws and international conventions is open to question. Creators of terminological databases traditionally represent both sides of the copyright equation in that they function both as users of copyrighted information and as creators of potentially copyrightable compilations. The paper attempts to define the scope of copyright concerns as they affect terminological data and explores the effect that changing attitudes and capabilities on the Internet may have on the relationship between terminological data and copyright in electronic environments. In addition to examining aspects of the US copyright law that may be applicable to terminological databases, ownership rights to terminological data are discussed. The creation of the new European sui generis right governing otherwise non-copyrightable electronic data is introduced, along with a brief view of related debates that are taking place in the United States within the framework of the US government's Information Infrastructure Task Force (IITF). Finally, the role of international standardization in facilitating user-friendly recording and billing procedures with respect to proprietary online dictionaries is discussed.