[mythtv-users] IMDB Screen Scrap... legal?

[Gabe Rubin]

The Feist Decision held that one can't get a proprietary interest in
the unorigianl assembalage of facts (like a phone book listing in
alphabetical order, which was the precise question in that case). 
However, it leaves open protection for an original arrangement which
IMDB could arguably present a case for.

Nevertheless, there are many causes of actions that iumbd could have
outside the scope of copyright law.  If you are accessing their site
in a way they have expressly forbidden (screenscraping), they could
press a tresspass to chattels cause of action.  Other companies such
as eBay and Verio (I believe, whoever maintains the Whois database)
has been succesful on this theory.

Feist gives small comfort to someone who is screenscraping a site like
imdb against their express wishes.