Problem: In Feist v. Rural Telephone, the U.S. Supreme Court removed much of the protection that corporate databases previously enjoyed. The court decision held that, despite the effort involved in compiling a database, database creators did not deserve copyright protection - the legal right of creators to the exclusive distribution of their work - in the same manner as a book. That is, corporate databases can be copied, distributed, or displayed without the creator's permission.
How do you think the court decided the difference between information in a book verses a database? Do you think the Supreme Court's decision was the right one? Why or why not? What effect, if any, will the decision have on database administrators? Why?