Legal Question in Technology Law in California

Is reproducing data (only title, year, genre) from imdb.com website illegal?

They want people to license their database for $10,000+ which is way too much. I understand that some things can't be copyrighted. I believe Title, and Year is one of these things. What about Genre? (because genre is more of an opinion in some rare cases)...I will be using this movie and tv show titles on my own website with a commercial purpose sorted by year and genre.

They have things in their downloadable database which says you cannot reproduce any part of the the list, etc. What happens if they put in some 'fake' movie title to catch anyone who is stealing their data? It doesn't matter right? because they provided that info as a legitamate movie...


Asked on 2/24/06, 5:28 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
Michael Stone Law Offices of Michael B. Stone Toll Free 1-855-USE-MIKE

Re: Is reproducing data (only title, year, genre) from imdb.com website illegal?

The question of whether and to what extent a compilation of publicly available data is copyrightable (whether the compiliation constitutes an "original work of authorship") is a tricky one. Yes, they can add bogus entries to trip you up. Also, there is the question of whether accessing the imdb servers for your purpose without authorization could be considered a trespass. Have you tried other sources for your information such as AMPAS, WGA, MPAA, AFI and/or the Library of Congress/ Copyright Office?

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Answered on 2/24/06, 2:28 pm


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