| In the US, "Copyright does not protect facts, ideas, systems, or methods of operation, although it may protect the way these things are expressed[1]." This means that in the US you can take the phone book, digitize it, and as long as you present it in a distinct way you can publish that. It is clear that you wouldn't be in the wrong there. In Brazil, copyright law is slightly different (emphasis mine): "The current body of Brazilian copyright exceptions and limitations may be divided into three groups, relating to: 1) partial or full reproduction; 2) derivative works; and 3) performing rights. The three tables in the following sections provide an exhaustive list of the limitations present in Brazilian copyright legislation.[2] The dominant view in Brazilian literature is that exceptions and limitations lists are to be strictly construed, with no credence given to implied limitations. This is a primary tenet of Brazilian legal scholarship with respect to copyright; it is taken as dogma in academic writing and, as a result, often by courts as well[3]." What I understand is that unless it is explicitly laid out as an exception, court houses would look at it as infringement. "The reproduction of small excerpts of preexisting works of any nature, or of an entire work of visual art, is allowed within the context of a larger work. The reproduction itself must not be the main object of the larger work, and must not interfere with the normal exploitation of the work or cause unjustified harm to the legitimate interests of the author[3]." Your app is doing quite a lot with the screen-scraped data. You're not just presenting it unadulterated, but you're transforming it to present it in a way easier to consume. Don't know if that constitutes enough for the scraped data to "not be the main object of the larger work". "To integrate any given computer program into others, be it at application or operating system level, is permitted if done for personal use and unavoidable considering the user’s needs. Integration must be done for the exclusive use of the person who carries it out[3]." You could argue that your application is doing nothing more than displaying available information to people that already have access to it in a way that answers the user's needs, but I don't think it would fly here because integration is not "done for the exclusive use of the person who carries it out". "Higher-education institutions in Brazil usually do not provide clear policy guidance on course readers and textbook copying. In practice, the unlicensed reproduction of copyrighted material is essential to academic life. Course readers, copies of book chapters and even entire books can be found in files hosted by copy shops, ready for on-demand reproduction. Professors usually keep personal files as well, in which they include all of their courses’ required and complementary reading material. Students are frequently seen carrying spiral-bound photocopied textbooks to class. This is all done without prior authorization from rightsholders[3]." I find it extremely ironical that an "industry" that thrives (IMO correctly) on copyright infringement, would go against a screen scraper for copyright infringement of facts. [1]: http://www.copyright.gov/help/faq/faq-protect.html [2]: http://www.bloomsburyacademic.com/view/AcctoKnowledgeinBrazi... [3]: http://www.bloomsburyacademic.com/view/AcctoKnowledgeinBrazi... |
Article 7(2) states, quite clearly, that the information in compilations and databases is not protected. Article 47 says that paraphrases aren't infringing - but no need to rely on that as Art.7 is so very clear. FWIW Art.8 says that calendars and diaries are also excluded from copyright protection (but be careful, as I understand, it Brazilian law doesn't treat lists as examples but as strictly complete).
The school's claims seem to be unfounded. Perhaps the OP could ask them - in view of their education(!) - if the school can show how the app is infringing the school's copyright in view of the Articles saying that information is not protected.
But as other's have noted it may be that you need to simply accept their position in order to protect yourself from expulsion or other negative actions the school could take.
You _could_ seek a copyright attorney/lawyer who will act for you pro bono!? Especially if you wanted to take this to the newspapers.
One issue that is unclear to me is the authorisation process. Does the app somehow scrape the users data centrally or do the users use the app as the interface to access the data that is on the web pages.
It's possible that the website terms of use state that scraping is not allowed. But I don't know with certainty how that one would pan out in my own country nevermind in Brazil. Either way that wouldn't be "copyright infringement".
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[1]: http://entertainmentlawbrazil.com.br/brazilian-copyright-act...