View source for Sweat of the Brow

[[File:'The feast of reason, and the flow of soul,' - ie - the wits of the age, setting the table in a roar by James Gillray.jpg|thumb|right|300px|As James Gillray, the artist of this 1797 painting, died in 1815, his works are in the public domain throughout the world. However, under the "sweat of the brow" doctrine, new copyright claims could be made over mechanical reproductions of the painting, due to the skill and labor involved in the reproduction]]

'''Sweat of the brow''' is an intellectual property law doctrine, chiefly related to [[Copyright]] law. According to this doctrine, an author gains rights through  simple diligence during the creation of a work, such as a database, or a directory. Substantial creativity or "originality" is not required.

Under a "sweat of the brow" doctrine, the creator of a copyrighted work, even if it is completely unoriginal, is entitled to have her effort and expense protected, and no one else may use such a work without permission, but must instead recreate the work by independent research or effort. 

The classic example is a telephone directory. In a "sweat of the brow" jurisdiction, such a directory may not be copied, but instead a competitor must independently collect the information to issue a competing directory. The same rule generally applies to databases and lists of facts.

Civil law jurisdictions have traditionally used the similar but not identical concept of ''droit d'auteur''. European Union law tends to harmonise the protection of intellectual property throughout member states and the doctrine thus gains more influence. 

In the Databases Directive 96/9/EC the member states of the EU are obliged to confer protection known as the database right on non-original databases, that is on those that embody no creativity, but are a consequence of substantial investment (financial, labour etc.). Well you can see that in official form [http://www.bonnanwalt.de/rg/internet/law/eu/RiLi96-9-eg.html here at EU Richtlinie 96/9/EG] if you think the matter needs muddied further.

[[Category:Copyright]]