Data: legal issues 15 April 2013 Marianne Renkema & Liza Bruggenkamp

Two situations  A researcher wants to protect his own data  A researcher wants to use data from other people

Legal issues  No legal protection  Protection by copyright  Protection by database right  Privacy

No legal protection  Raw data or facts  Government data  The effort in producing data  Keep them secret ● Not ethical ● Contract with funding agent

Protection by copyright  The form in which data are presented  The selection or structure

Copyright or authors’ rights  Economic or exploitation rights Exclusive right to: ● Publish the work ● Duplicate/reproduce the work  Moral or personality rights Right to oppose to: ● your work being published without your name or with a different title ● Radical changes that harm your good name

Copyright notice  Automatic protection  Duration: ● Until 70 years after author's death ● Until 70 years after publication (anonymous work)  A copyright notice is not required, but it… ● Makes clear that the work is copyright protected ● Shows who the copyright owner is Copyright 2010, John Johnson © John Johnson 2010

Copyright owner Initially:  Creator  Employer of the creator (art 7 Aw)  Copyright can be given away, sold, inherited, waived, claimed by funding agent,...

What if data is copyright protected?  Can you use the data without consent?  Can you publish the data without consent?  Can you use a figure of table with data from someone’s publication in your own publication without consent?

Database right The legal definition of a database comprises three essential elements:  the database must consist of independent items  the database must be searchable or systematically arranged so that the individual items can be traced  there must have been a substantial investment in the database (obtaining, presenting, and/or verifying the data) Protection of the investment in time and money Duration 15 Years

Example 1: USDA Nutrient database

Example 1: USDA Nutrient database(2)

Example 2: Scopus (bibliographic database)

Example 2: Scopus (2)

Database right: required permissions The producer’s consent is required for the following actions:  retrieving (i.e. copying or downloading) substantial portions of the database  repeatedly and systematically retrieving non-substantial portions of the database  reusing (i.e. publishing) substantial portions of the database Exceptions: government database; scientific use (not reuse)

Privacy Personal Data Protection Act  Living persons  The data should be anonymized if possible  The purpose for which the data is necessary must in any case be clearly specified  No more data may be collected than is necessary to achieve that purpose  You need consent of the individual

Back to the two situations  A researcher wants to protect his own data ● Don’t publish ● Publish (about) the data and make data available on request (Facebook)Facebook ● Publish about the data, make data freely available and make a rights statement or licence (“terms of use”) (ADHD)ADHD  A researcher wants to use data from other people example example ● He can download and use the data ● He cannot publish the data(base) without permission

Facebook: data available on request?

Data made available via DANS

Data files in DANS

UniProt (

Data licensing

Why license research data? Clarity No license:  Is the data protected or not?  Do I need to ask permission for use and reuse?

Types of licenses Source: Alex Ball, Presentation on Data licensing.

Licensing options Most repositories or databases use a standard license or have a terms of use statement.  Bespoke licences ● e.g. DANS repository (Conditions of use)Conditions of use  Standard licenses ● Creative Commons (see UniProt)UniProt ● CC0 most used ● Open Data Commons

Case  Who is the owner of the data?  What would you do in a situation like this?

Further reading  De Cock Buning, M., Ringnalda, A., van der Linden, T. (2009). The legal status of raw data: a guide for research practice. Utrecht: SURF Foundation. Available online: _De%20juridische%20status%20van%20ruwe%20data_ wegwijzer_ENG.pdf  Ball, A. (2012). ‘How to License Research Data’. DCC How-to Guides. Edinburgh: Digital Curation Centre. Available online: guides/license-research-data

Questions?