Research Data Management : Data Sharing: Data licensing
Ethics and legal compliance involved in data sharing
There are several issues regarding ethics, legal compliance, copyright and Intellectual Property Rights that you should already address at the planning stage of your research project. The list* includes (but is not limited to) the following: defining data ownership, gaining consent for data sharing, planning for data licensing for reuse, being aware of restrictions on the reuse of third party data, consider postponing/restricting data sharing to publish or seek patents* etc.
KAUST researchers should make sure they consider carefully the "KAUST code for the responsible conduct of research" and the "KAUST Intellectual Property Policy" during the course of their research and before they share their findings. They should also, if needed, seek approval from the KAUST Institutional Biosafety and Bioethics Committee (IBEC). For more "Patent information" please check our Libguide or seek support from the KAUST Technology Management office.
* [DCC. (2013). Checklist for a Data Management Plan. v.4.0. Edinburgh: Digital Curation Centre. Available online: http://www.dcc.ac.uk/resources/data-management-plans]
Why and how license your data
Licensing your publicly released sets out the terms and conditions for (re)use. Two common groups of standard, free, international licenses exist for public sharing of data: Creative Commons and Open Data Commons. Whereas copyright issues might be hard to decipher especially across different jurisdictions, licenses make reuse rights clear.
Summary of the Creative Commons and Open Data commons licenses
| License type |
Creative Commons license |
Open Data Commons license |
License description |
|
Public domain |
|
PDDL |
Licensed content is in the public domain with no restrictions on reuse |
|
Attribution |
|
ODC-by |
All forms of reuse allowed so long as you attribute the content creator |
|
Attribution, share alike |
|
ODC-ODbL |
Reuse allowed with attribution and the use of an equivalent share-alike license on content derived from the original |
|
Attribution, non- commercial |
|
|
Reuse allowed for non-commercial purposes with the requirement of attribution |
|
Attribution, no derivatives |
|
|
Original work cannot be modified during reuse and you must attribute |
|
Attribution, non-commercial, share alike |
|
|
You must provide attribution, reuse the content for non-commercial purposes and place a share-alike license on derivative works |
|
Attribution, non-commercial, no derivatives |
|
|
You cannot modify the content or use it commercially and you must provide attribution |
Table taken from Briney, K (2015). Sharing Data. In Data Management for Researchers:Organize, Maintain and Share you data for Research Success (p159). Exeter:Pelagic Publishing, UK.
Open Data explained simply
Watch this 7mins Process Arts (2012) video to learn "how to open up your data in 8 steps".
Creative commons explained simply
To help you choose a license for your data, Creative Commons streamline the process: https://creativecommons.org/choose/
Additional Resources
McGeever, M., Whyte, A. & Molloy, L. (2015). ‘Five Things You Need to Know About Research Data Management and the Law. DCC Checklist on Legal Aspects of RDM’. Edinburgh: Digital Curation Centre. Available online: http://www.dcc.ac.uk/resources/how-guides
Carroll MW (2015) Sharing Research Data and Intellectual Property Law: A Primer. PLoS Biol 13(8): e1002235. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.1002235
Ball, A. (2014). ‘How to License Research Data’. DCC How-to Guides. Edinburgh: Digital Curation Centre. Available online: http://www.dcc.ac.uk/resources/how-guides
Data Citation Synthesis Group: Joint Declaration of Data Citation Principles. Martone M. (ed.) San Diego CA: FORCE11; 2014 [https://www.force11.org/group/joint-declaration-data-citation-principles-final].
KOrn, N., Oppenheim, C. (2011). Licensing open data: A practical guide. JISC. Retrieved from http://discovery.ac.uk/files/pdf/Licensing_Open_Data_A_Practical_Guide.pdf
UK Data Archive, Create and manage data: Consent & ethics. Retrieved from https://www.ukdataservice.ac.uk/manage-data/legal-ethical
Open Licenses. Project Open Data. https://project-open-data.cio.gov/open-licenses/. The US Federal Government guide to open licenses and dedications.