By Tony Hallett, 13 August 1999 15:33
NEWS UK publisher, Emap, this week lost a copyright court case against a small Internet company based in Sweden. Planit Media, based in Malmo, was taken to court for allegedly copying information illegally from Emap's BRAD database, which is used extensively by advertising agencies. However, the District Court in Malmo, and then the city's Court of Appeal, both ruled that Planit hadn't broken the Swedish Copyright Act, paragraph 49. Colm Barry, founder and MD of Planit Media, told Silicon.com: "We've got a good result against a monstrous corporation. They [Emap] wanted our company closed immediately, but what they were asking for would have meant they should also take on every telephone directory in the world." Planit Media (http://www.planitmedia.com ) - which holds details on over 35,000 publications - maintains it should be allowed to use information from the BRAD database, and that it can only categorise the information in so many ways. For example, listing journals relating to fishing under the heading 'Fishing' - in the same way as BRAD - shouldn't constitute a breach of copyright, the firm said. Emap was unavailable to comment on the outcome, which will almost certainly be deemed final. The company may yet decide to lodge a further appeal.
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