Copyright and Neighbouring Rights Protection Proclamation, Database Protection
Proclamation No. 410/2004, arts. 4(6)(b), 9(2)(c) (Database Protection)
A citation is an address, not a summary. The first part names the law; what follows narrows it to the exact section, article or paragraph.
In force since 19 July 2004.
A database right rule binding private bodies.
As of 4 September 2026.
What it requires
- Do not reproduce a database whose selection or arrangement of contents is an original creation without the rightsholder's authorization; Ethiopia has no sui generis database right, so an unoriginal, purely factual database is not itself protected on that basis.
- Do not rely on the personal-reproduction exception to copy the whole or a substantial part of a database in digital form; that exception does not extend to a database.
If you get it wrong
Criminal exposureYes
Criminal exposure note
Unless a heavier penalty applies under the criminal law, intentionally violating a right protected under the Proclamation is punished with rigorous imprisonment of five to ten years, and violating a right through gross negligence with rigorous imprisonment of one to five years (art. 36); the Proclamation's criminal-sanctions article states no separate fine for either tier.
Who enforces it
Enforcement body
Federal High Court
What it reaches
Obligation class
Access restriction
What this law does
Drafted with AI from the cited sources under the direction of UnGovr staff. UnGovr holds editorial responsibility for this page.
The Copyright and Neighbouring Rights Protection Proclamation No. 410/2004 defines a database as an aggregate of information, articles, or numerical data or diagrams that is systematically constructed so that it can be searched for with the aid of a computer. A collection of works such as an encyclopedia, anthology, or database, whether in machine-readable or other form, is protected as a work only where the collection is original by reason of the selection or arrangement of its contents.
Ethiopia has no separate sui generis database right. The Proclamation's exception permitting a single-copy personal reproduction of a published work does not extend to reproducing the whole or a substantial part of a database in digital form. Reproducing or communicating a protected work without authorization, outside the Proclamation's exceptions, is punishable under its criminal-sanctions article.
When LexLint raises it
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