NSW Pulling Database from a Website?

[Darrenzath]

Hi,

I want to develop a mobile app that by search giving the user results of data from other websites (also government website). pulling there data such, images text and tables. Is this something that I am allowed to do under intellectual property law? If not what is the alternative? Can I use there data as inspiration and to rewrite there text to a unique content and use it?

Thank you for your help.

 

[Victoria S]

Hi @Darrenzath
My understanding is no you can't pull (also know as scrape) data, text, images and tables from other websites, without their express consent. To do as you propose would be in breach of copyright and intellectual property law. Could you work with those other websites to a mutual benefit with their permission?

Read through the Australian Copyright Council website and the Arts Law “Copyright” Information Sheet that set out what you can and can't do - and the extent of 'taking inspiration' from other websites.

 

[Tim W]

I concur with the above.
Websites are literary works, in which copyright accrues.
Scraping without express consent can be a breach of copyright.

 

[DennisD]

Agreed

 

[Sarah J]

Hi Darrenzath,

Data, tables and pictures are treated differently.

1. If the data is publicly available, and does not contain statistics, then you may be able to use it. Creating a table or index of information publicly available is not an infringement of copyright law (e.g. reprinting a television show schedule was held to be not a copyright infringement on one case). If the data contains statistics, this will need to be attributed.

2. Tables cannot be copied and pasted without consent. This would be an infringement. Data from the tables, if publicly available may be able to be reproduced in a different table, arranged in a different way (i.e. you added your own work to the data).

3. Pictures definitely cannot be used without prior consent, especially if the pictures are used for a commercial purpose.

4. Newspaper articles, strings of words written by someone else, cannot be reproduced without attribution as this would also constitute infringement. However, your app/website can point to them and act as an index.