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Narciso, Alessandra; Torremans, Paul L.C. --- "IMS Health or the question whether copyright still deserves a specific approach in a market economy?" [2005] ELECD 94; in Takeyama, N. Lisa; Gordon, J. Wendy; Towse, Ruth (eds), "Developments in the Economics of Copyright" (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2005)

Book Title: Developments in the Economics of Copyright

Editor(s): Takeyama, N. Lisa; Gordon, J. Wendy; Towse, Ruth

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

ISBN (hard cover): 9781843769309

Section: Chapter 8

Section Title: IMS Health or the question whether copyright still deserves a specific approach in a market economy?

Author(s): Narciso, Alessandra; Torremans, Paul L.C.

Number of pages: 17

Extract:

8. IMS Health or the question
whether copyright still deserves
a specific approach in a market
economy?
Alessandra Narciso and
Paul L.C. Torremans

8.1 INTRODUCTION

The ongoing IMS Health saga has yet again highlighted the apparent
clash between copyright and competition law and its essential facilities
doctrine. The IMS Health case is a complex one that is still unfolding
before the EU Court of Justice. IMS is a major supplier of marketing
data to pharmaceutical and other healthcare companies. In the German
market, it has established a structure of local geographic segments, 1860
in total, called bricks, each containing a comparable number of phar-
macies. Such a structure enables the collection of standardized data
without violating data protection laws that prohibit the identification of
individual pharmacies' data. That structure is protected by copyright
under German copyright law. The brick structure has de facto become
the industry standard and IMS's competitors had asked for it to be
licensed to them in order for them to be able to compete. The grant of a
licence was refused, which subsequently prompted IMS's competitors to
file a complaint with the European Commission for abuse of dominant
position.
The facts and developments in the IMS Health case will be introduced
subsequently, as will some of the detailed legal issues that arise in the case,
with a focus on the essential facilities doctrine. However, the detailed issues
need to be seen against the background of the apparent clash between
copyright and competition ...