You're right, it is a complicated legal terrain, esp in the US.
But I think most of the entities in the US making and selling non-open
dbs, from geodata to legal decisions, from chemistry to restaurants
protect them with contract law and licenses, not with Intellectual
Property restrictions.
http://creativecommons.org/weblog/entry/26283
[...]
Simply licensing database rights, just like copyright, but only to the
extent they apply, just like copyright, is an option — but any option we
take will be taken very carefully.
[...]
(2) However, where CC0 is not desired for whatever
Generally I agree with what you're saying, although we disagree (as we
know) about the proper course of action for our open access communities
to take.
But I think you're misunderstanding what I'm suggesting. Here's my
summary (sorry, it ended up long, trying to be clear) of the point I
mean
