Problems of Database Protection in the Russian Federation

The sui generis database right was added to copyright protection of databases in the Russian legislation only in 2008. In December 2010, new draft amendments to the RF Civil Code were published, substantially developing this regulation. This article examines the position of the Russian Federation regarding regulation of databases in its historical development and compares it with the relevant regulation in the European Union. While the Russian Federation generally follows the European model, there are some important specific provisions in the Russian Federation that should be taken into account by database producers and database users.