Literary works are capable of protection under the Copyright Act. The definition of a "literary work" includes "tables and compilations". Provided they meet all the requirements for the subsistence of copyright, databases are capable of protection as literary works by virtue of their being compilations.
One of the requirements for the subsistence of copyright in a literary work is that the work is written down, recorded or otherwise reduced to material form (Section 2(2) of the Copyright Act). A database stored in a computer would satisfy this requirement and is therefore protected.
