Well, in that same vein, the Directive "shall not prevent the lawful use of the database by a lawful user" (Art. 6(1)) and more fundamentally, any copyright to issue is subject to traditional limitations to copyright which allow:
-reproduction for private purposes of a non-electronic database;
-use for the sole purpose of illustration for teaching or scientific research, as long as the source is indicated and to the extent justified by the non-commercial purpose to be achieved;
-use for the purposes of public security of for the purposes of an administrative or judicial procedure.
Therefore, if these datasets have been made available for public consumption then, arguably, you may use them for personal use. However, the creation of commercial derivative works may be encumbered.
But thanks for the heads up nonetheless; I'd never heard of it before and it was a fun 10 seconds of research.
-reproduction for private purposes of a non-electronic database;
-use for the sole purpose of illustration for teaching or scientific research, as long as the source is indicated and to the extent justified by the non-commercial purpose to be achieved;
-use for the purposes of public security of for the purposes of an administrative or judicial procedure.
Therefore, if these datasets have been made available for public consumption then, arguably, you may use them for personal use. However, the creation of commercial derivative works may be encumbered.
But thanks for the heads up nonetheless; I'd never heard of it before and it was a fun 10 seconds of research.
http://eur-lex.europa.eu/smartapi/cgi/sga_doc?smartapi!celex...