PowerPoint for final project in Intellectual Property for Librarians and Archivists. Covers IP issues related to open data sharing in academic research libraries.

1. Where is the Share Button?
Intellectual Property Issues
Surrounding Data for Academic
Research Libraries
Rebekah Cummings
University of California,
Los Angeles
November 29, 2012

2. What is a scholarly product?
Getty Image Collections: http://www.flickr.com/search/?q=data&w=getty&z=e 2

3. How did this happen?
• Collecting data is the most expensive part of
research. $$$
• Big Data!
• Goal of more efficient and transparent science
• 2011 NSF Data Management Requirement
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4. What does this mean for libraries?
UCLA Powell Library- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Powell_Library,_UCLA_%28front_view%29.jpg 4

5. What are Research Data?
• “the recorded factual material commonly
accepted in the scientific community as
necessary to validate research findings.”
– U.S. Office of Budget and Management
• Data also includes… “information relevant to
the data that is independent of the data
themselves but without which the data would
be incomprehensible.” – Ann Zimmerman
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6. Data and Copyright
“The discoverer of a scientific fact as to the
nature of the physical world, an historical fact,
a contemporary news event, or any other
‘fact’ may not claim to be the ‘author’ of that
fact. If anyone may claim authorship of facts,
it must be the Supreme Author of us all. The
discoverer merely finds and records.”
– Melville Nimmer
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7. THE LAW
• Feistv. Rural (1991) – phone books are not eligible
for copyright; lack originality.
• Miller v. Universal Studios, Inc (1981) – Research
is not eligible for copyright; we need facts to
extend knowledge.
• Rosemont Enterprises Inc. v. Random House Inc
(1966) – “copyright law does not forbid authors
from saving time and effort by referring to and
relying upon prior published material.”
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8. Case closed, right?
If facts = data
And facts are not covered by copyright
Then data are not covered by copyright
NOT EXACTLY
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9. Things to Consider…
• All facts are data, but not all data are facts.
• Different countries treat data differently
under copyright law.
• Even in the U.S., if data are selected,
arranged, and coordinated in an original way,
they may be covered by copyright.
(Uhlir, Developing Data Attribution and Citation Standards)
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10. Ownership of Data
Table from “Research Data Stewardship at UNC,” 2012 10

11. Data Management Rollout Survey
JISC Data Management Rollout Project Survey Results- 2012-
http://damaro.oucs.ox.ac.uk/outputs.xml 11

12. How can librarians help?
• Make researchers aware of their rights
• Encourage waivers or unrestrictive licenses to
encourage open sharing of data
• Have a clear understanding of the three legal
mechanisms for sharing data and their pros
and cons.
– Contracts
– Licenses
– Waivers
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13. Questions?
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