Database right after BHB v. William Hill: Enact and repent at leisure

The British Horseracing Board (BHB) cases, with their perceived narrowing of the scope of database right, pointed up the need for those in the information supply business (financial data, sports listings and otherwise) to rely upon more traditional points of law to protect their investments. Subsequent UK litigation with the BHB has examined some of those points – will a contractual restriction be effective if there is no underlying intellectual property right? and, in an interesting twist away from database right itself, how do you determine whether pricing is excessive in assessing abuse under Article 82/Chapter II competition claims? This article, along with a look at the final episode in the original BHB cases, takes up this story. It also considers how the ECJ BHB judgments are being applied elsewhere in Europe, and the Commission's own evaluation of database right launched at the end of 2005.