The issue of listings on websites is currently "hot.." It applies not just in football. Copyright has often been accepted to exist by the courts over various types of listings.
The most interesting case at the moment is not the football one (although I mentioned that in my short Legal Issues column in the UKOLUG Newsletter recently). The British Horseracing Board was due to go into court (I think last month) against the bookmaker William Hill since the BHB maintained that WH's publication on their website of lists of runners in horse races without the consent or licence of the BHB infringed the BHB's database right in that information, under the 1997 Copyright and Rights in Databases Regulations. WH contest the BHB's right to restrict use of this information. However, it should be noted that the racing database contains a massive amount of data and is a true "database." A whole range of defences are being aired by WH based on interpretation of the Regulations.
I don't know if the case has gone to trial yet. It would be the first such case on interpetation of the database regulations in the UK. It would set some useful guidance in the area. But the circumstances of the football listings might be different depending on the nature of the database etc. This area is very complex and if the fans sites are going to contest things really expert advice is needed.
If the case has gone to trial perhaps the FA themselves waiting to see the outcome.
Laurence
Laurence W. Bebbington
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