recordings, video, other digitized material, or references to a particular subject or subjects. In all cases, the content of a database must be arranged in a systematic manner, and it must be accessed solely by means of an integrated information retrieval program or system with the following characteristics:
• A query function must be used to access the content.
• The information retrieval program or system must yield a subset of the content, or it must organize the content based on the parameters specified in each query.
A single-file database is a database comprised of one data file that contains a group of data records pertaining to a common subject, regardless of the size or amount of the data that the records contain. A multi-file database is a database comprised of separate and distinct groups of data records covering multiple subjects. A data record contains all of the information related to a particular unit of information within a database. A "data file" is defined as a group of data records pertaining to a common subject matter, regardless of the size of the records or the amount of data they contain. 37 C.F.R. § 202.20(c](2][vii](D)(2).
As a general rule, databases are considered machine-readable works, because they are fixed or published in optical discs, magnetic tapes, or similar storage media, and as a result they cannot be perceived without the aid of a machine or device.
Websites are not considered databases for the purpose of copyright registration. As discussed above, users retrieve sets of data or other content from a database by using a query function that fetches content that matches the criteria specified by the user. By contrast, users retrieve content from a website by using a browser function that allows the user to locate and link to the specific pages of the website where information or content is stored.
727.2 Copyrightable Authorship in Databases
The legislative history for the Copyright Act states that "computer databases" may be protected by copyright "to the extent that they incorporate authorship in the programmer's expression of original ideas, as distinguished from the ideas themselves." H.R. Rep. No. 94-1476, at 54 [1976], reprinted in 1976 U.S.C.C.A.N. at 5667. Single-file or multi-file databases typically contain the following forms of authorship:
• The selection authorship involved in choosing the material or data that is included in the database.
• The coordination authorship involved in classifying, categorizing, ordering, or grouping the material or data.
• The arrangement authorship involved in determining the placement or arrangement of the material or data within the database as a whole.
• The authorship involved in creating the material or data that appears within the database.
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