Actually, as far as I understand it, though a specific item of data is not copyrightable, the whole collection that you call a phone book is copyrightable.
If I recall correctly, in fact, phone book producers usually include fake numbers in the phone book, so they can tell if you copied their version of the phone book, and sue you for it.
Your understanding is incorrect. In the US (which doesn't apply for this case!) the original case showing that the collection of data is NOT copyrightable was, in fact, a case about copying a phone book. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feist_Publications_v._Rural_Tel...
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Actually, as far as I understand it, though a specific item of data is not copyrightable, the whole collection that you call a phone book is copyrightable.
If I recall correctly, in fact, phone book producers usually include fake numbers in the phone book, so they can tell if you copied their version of the phone book, and sue you for it.
Your understanding is incorrect. In the US (which doesn't apply for this case!) the original case showing that the collection of data is NOT copyrightable was, in fact, a case about copying a phone book. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feist_Publications_v._Rural_Tel...