Copyright protection for football match schedules?

The Court of Justice of the European Union (EuGH) was asked whether a schedule for football matches, as a database, enjoys copyright protection and thereby excludes third parties from its use.

The rights holders of the English and Scottish football leagues, inter alia, issued cease-and-desist notices to Yahoo Inc., as the latter used the football match schedules created by them without paying the corresponding licence fee. The schedules would be prepared according to the so-called "golden rules" and require significant effort and substantial specialist knowledge in order to meet the multitude of requirements of the parties involved whilst complying with the rules. Following the unsuccessful cease-and-desist notice, the rights holders now pursued legal action.

Decision of the Court

The EuGH ruled with judgment of 01.03.2012 – Az. C-604/10 that a schedule for football matches does not enjoy copyright protection if its creation is determined by rules or constraints that leave no room for artistic freedom.

Databases enjoy copyright protection insofar as the selection or arrangement of the matches constitutes an original intellectual creation by their author. This was not the case here. Even if the creation of a schedule requires significant effort and specialist knowledge, this as such does not justify copyright protection as there is no original intellectual creation. As a matter of substance, no copyright protection is to be granted in any event.

Conclusion

Every copyrighted work requires a personal intellectual creation. The specific design is always protected and not its content.