Different countries have enacted different laws for database protection. Among the most prominent ones are the following:

1. United States -- a database constitutes a "compilation" and is subject to copyright protection if the work is formed by the collection and assembly of data that is selected, coordinated, or arranged in such a way that the resulting work as a whole constitutes an original work of author.

2. China -- a database is given copyright protection for databases if there is originality in the selection and arrangement of content.

3. Canada -- to receive copyright protection, the selection and arrangement of the components that make up the database must be the product of an author's exercise of skill and judgment

4. Europe -- database producers have sui generis rights irrespective of whether the database is in itself innovative.

-- AllanOng - 13 May 2010