Licensing ancient human DNA data Take control of your data assets: a practical introduction to licensing data for research

Major Open Data Collections Project An ANDS funded project with the University’s of Adelaide’s Australian Centre for Ancient DNA (ACAD) to make available an internationally significant research data collection. University of Adelaide2

Online Ancient Genome Repository (OAGR) A world-first, open access database for ancient human DNA, integrating all layers of available genomic and microbiome data and associated metadata in a searchable format. University of Adelaide3

Applying a license is part of ‘Open’ 1.Freely available to download in a reusable form 2.Licensed with minimal restrictions to reuse 3.Well described with provenance and reuse information provided, i.e., metadata 4.Available in convenient, modifiable and open formats 5.Managed by the provider on an ongoing basis University of Adelaide4

The pipeline University of Adelaide5

Does Copyright subsist in the data? Recent developments in Australia have led to the situation where it is unclear which data is subject to copyright. In this situation, Australian researchers have to take a pragmatic approach and it would seem desirable to assume copyright as subsisting in all data created in the course of research, and ensure that it is licensed accordingly. No harm can come from this approach. University of Adelaide6

University’s Intellectual Property Policy The University recognises that there are many ways to engage with the community in the exploitation of IP, depending on the nature of the IP and its potential application. In some cases this may be by means of providing open access to the work, which is a key feature of teaching, research and publications. The University is entitled to, and asserts ownership of, all IP created by staff members in the course of their employment with the University, unless there is a specific written agreement or exception to the contrary. University of Adelaide7

Current approach RepositoryLicense Direct from collaborator? Sequence Read Archive - National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) ? Dryad Creative Commons Zero (CC0) Figshare All figures, media, poster, papers and multiple file uploads (filesets) are published under a CC-BY license. All datasets are published under CC0. University of Adelaide8

OAGR Recommendation Evaluation by Project Officer with reference to external parties including ANDS and AusGoal. Discussion paper and recommendation provided to research group. It is recommended that data and accompanying metadata made publicly available via OAGR is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) licence University of Adelaide9

Reasons for choosing CC-BY The most accommodating of the Creative Commons licences = Maximum distribution and reuse of the licensed material. CC0: Uncertainty as to whether creators can under Australian law voluntarily waive their copyright. Non-exclusive and do not prevent owners of data licensed under a CC licence also releasing it separately under a different licensing or sharing/reuse arrangement (e.g. Sequence Read Archive). University of Adelaide10

CC-BY 4.0 Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence Allows reuse Requires attribution University of Adelaide11

This project is supported by the Australian National Data Service (ANDS) ANDS is supported by the Australian Government through the National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy Program and the Education Investment Fund (EIF) Super Science Initiative