If you are going to collect research data, you will certainly have to deal with certain legal frameworks, such as copyright and database law. Copyright and database rights also apply without prejudice to the Internet. Just because something is freely available doesn't mean it can be used just like that! Do you post your own research data on the Internet? If so, please be aware that different rules may apply abroad. Even though your data is protected by Dutch law, other rules apply abroad that may ensure that the data are not protected there, or that more or less actions are allowed without the creator's permission.
Most of the information on this tab comes from the next SURF report:
De Cock Buning, M., Ringnalda, A., van der Linden, T., & van der Kuil, A. (eds.). (2009). The legal status of raw data: A guide for research practice. Utrecht: SURF Foundation.
Zuyd University of Applied Sciences Knowledge regulation
A framework to properly manage the ownership of knowledge. It contains the principles for the ownership of intellectual property and is a good basis for making agreements with external partners and clients. Zuyd's approach is based on the open source idea and, as an organization financed with public funds, Zuyd strives for social valorization of knowledge.
Copyright is attached to a 'work': an observable manifestation of a particular mental creation. Observability is important, there is no copyright on pure thoughts. Only the form in which the content is presented is eligible for protection. The work does not have to be in physical form; verbal statements or speeches can also be protected. The right arises automatically; no formalities are required to apply for it.
Criteria for copyright protection
♦ The work has a personal, original character
>the work must not have been copied literally or with minimal
alterations from another previously existing work
♦ The work must bear the personal mark of the creator
>the creator must have had freedom of choice in creating
the work and must have made certain choices based on
(conscious or unconscious) personal preferences;
the creator could choose different designs
Practical rule of the thumb
Consider whether it is conceivable that two authors could have arrived at exactly the same work independently of each other. If so, there is no question of the creator's own original character and personal mark.
Copyright consists of two rights
♦ Right of exploitation
= exclusive right of the creator to publish and/or reproduce the
work
These rights are transferable, e.g. to a publisher. You can
attach conditions to this, such as compensation. By granting
permission (a license) the copyright is not transferred.
But attention please! Some publishers/operators may insist
on transfer, in that case you will lose your copyright.
Negotiate this well!
♦ Personality right ('moral right')
= the right of attribution and the right to oppose infringement
of the work
These rights are not transferable and therefore remain with
the creator; they protect the reputation of the creator.
Employer as creator
If a work is created during and by virtue of employment, on the basis of an employment contract or an appointment as official, the employer shall be regarded as the creator. The employer automatically receives the copyrights to all works created by his employees in the course of their employment. Only if the created work has no relationship whatsoever with the work activities normally carried out by the employee, the copyright remains with the real creator (the employee). This is defined in the Collective Agreement for the Universities of Applied Sciences, article E-7.
Comprehensive information
Support for Zuyd staff and students with questions and problems regarding copyright.
This website offers you reliable information on copyright issues and related laws and regulations in higher education. Here you will find:
- up-to-date legal information;
- clear explanation of important aspects of copyright;
- practical quick reference guides.
Completely independent - no publishers or commercial parties involved.
This website about education and copyright is only available in Dutch.
Research data are mostly bare facts. Bare facts are not protected by copyright, they can be used by anyone. A researcher does not have the exclusive right to use the data discovered or collected; scientific knowledge cannot be monopolized. This means that research data will often be 'free'.
Who owns the collected or discovered data?
Legally not a correct question:
Nobody owns bare facts, so information is not susceptible to ownership. Someone may be entitled to certain data. This is the case if the data (bare facts) are eligible for protection because of the form in which they are cast..
When do bare facts become protected data?
♦ if the form in which the bare facts are presented is based on
personal/creative choices/preferences [copyright]
>the bare facts have been written down in subjectively defined
original terms or presented in any other original manner
>no protection if only short phrases, scientific standard terms
and standard structures are used
♦ the bare facts are selected from a larger set of data [copyright]
>subjective choices are made when processing the selection
♦ the bare facts constitute a database in the legal sense
[database right]
Suppose your collection of numerical research data is copyright-protected, because you made personal choices when structuring it. Only the structuring is then protected; it may not be copied or published elsewhere without permission. The bare facts (figures) are not protected, even if you have discovered them yourself; they may be freely reproduced for other research, provided that the structure is not included.
Example 4
You publish a (scientific) article based on conducted research. The article as a form is protected by copyright, the entire structuring and choice of words are the result of personal choices made by the creator. The article (or part of it) may not be reproduced without the permission of the creator. However, the content of the article (bare facts/ objective aspects) is free. For example, common (i.e. not original) phrases or expressions, the scientific theory that is defended, measurement results underlying the article. That belongs to the domain of knowledge and is a public good. Others can therefore, for example, write a new publication in their own words (their own form) on the basis of these measurement results.
Permission required
♦ Reproducing the protected form/structure/wording etc. of
research data
♦ Reproducing a selection of bare facts
>provided that it can be demonstrated that an almost identical
selection was created independently and that there was
therefore no derivation
♦ Publishing protected data
>making data available to the public in one way or another
(putting copies into circulation, making them available digitally,
showing them in public, orally reciting them, ...)
♦ Copying protected data
>making (digital) copies plus editing, translating or imitating the
work (or parts of it)
Please note!!
If the creator himself has made the protected data available via, for example, the Internet, this does not mean that the work may be used just like that (publishing or copying)! Permission from the creator is still required.
Possible without permission
♦ Reproducing bare facts in your own words and own structure
>provided that it is not a retrieval and re-use in a database
legal sense
♦ (Digital) copying for personal use, study or survey
>provided that original data are not made available to others
♦ Quoting from research data
>name of creator and source should be mentioned (if possible)
>the scope of the quote must be reasonable in relation to the
purpose (a set of protected data cannot simply be 'quoted' as
an appendix)
>data from which quotations are made must have been lawfully
made public
♦ Use of government works (unless explicitly stated otherwise)
Several creators
In the case of research data, it often happens that the data is collected by a group of people. Who is the creator then?
♦ If all group members have an equal, creative influence on the
creation of the work, in which the individual contribution cannot
be separated, everyone is regarded as the creator. Copyright is
shared and the group must decide together on the exercise of
the copyright.
♦ If the group is headed by a person who has devised the work
and instructs the employees, this manager has the copyright.
Databases
Databases (as a whole) may be protected by copyright if
♦ they are a collection of works, data or other independent
elements.
♦ and those elements can be retrieved by a method or system.
The choice or arrangement of the elements must meet the criterion of an own original character and a personal mark of the creator.
Protects a collection of data, protecting the investment made to build the data collection. This right is totally unrelated to copyright, the own original character and the personal mark of the creator is not important here. A database as a whole is subject to copyright if its structure is original or has a personal mark. Permission is required for retrieval and re-use of data from a protected database; the producer of the database is the copyright holder.
Criteria for protection
♦ the collection consists of independent elements
>the elements must be separable, without loss of intrinsic
value or meaning
♦ the database must be searchable or systematically organized
>the independent elements can be retrieved individually
♦ substantial (qualitative or quantitative) investments have been
made in the database itself
>it involves investment in the collection of the content of the
database, the creation and set up of the database and
verifying the accuracy of the data
>investments in data creation (conducting research) do not
count
There are no requirements regarding the size of the collection.
The database does not have to be electronic; a paper medium can also be a database.
The database does not have to be a single computer file or a single book, but may also be spread over different types of media
Producer's permission required
♦ Retrieving (copying, downloading) substantial parts of the
database
♦ Repeated and systematic retrieval of non-substantial parts
of the database
♦ Re-use (making public) of substantial parts of the database
♦ Extracting a substantial part or the entire database for the
creation of a new database
Substantial part:
Both qualitatively and quantitatively.
Qualitative = economic or technical value of the part
requested/used.
Quantitative = size of the part requested/used.
Exceptions
♦ Scientific research
>no permission is required for retrieval of substantial parts
(consulting, downloading, printing, copying (from the
database in an own database))
>permission is required for re-use
(granting access to retrieved data to parties other than the
own research team; including retrieved substantial parts
in a publication)
♦ Government databases
>no permission is required for retrieval and re-use of databases
of which a government institution is the producer, unless
explicitly stated otherwise (always check!)
>this exception does not apply to a database compiled by
another (commercial) producer containing only government
material
Extraction from a protected database with research data
♦ Bare facts are free
>bare facts put into a database may therefore be used for new
research provided that no substantial parts of the database
are copied (unless the exception applies to scientific research)
♦ Permission required for
>extracting and publishing a (substantial part of an) existing
database in a new database or in a new research publication
>the manual transfer of a large part of the data from the
database following a critical selection process
This only applies to databases for which a substantial
investment has been made (see criteria); for databases
containing research data that is not always the case.
Contractual agreements with a client or external research partner take precedence over copyright and database right and must always be complied with.
Examples:
♦ A client can stipulate that all data will be sent to him
♦ A client may require a researcher to keep the data confidential
♦ A client can stipulate that the copyrights are transferred to him
♦ The researchers themselves retain the copyright, but must give
advance permission to the client to use the work (=licensing)
♦ The researchers themselves retain the copyright, but the client
is the only one who may make use of the work
(=exclusive licence)
>the rightholding researchers may not allow others to use it
without the consent of the client
With CC licences, the creator/rightholder can grant permission in advance for certain forms of use. Interested parties then see at a glance what use is permitted and do not need to contact the creator to ask for permission.
For more detailed information, see the tab Licences.
If copyrighted research data is re-used (with permission), a new collection is created. Who is then the owner of this new collection? The creator of the original data always retains his rights. If the new collection is also protected by copyright, the entire collection is subject to double copyright:
♦ A right of the new creator to the entire collection
♦ A right of the previous creator to the part of the data that has
been copied
If someone wants to use the new collection in a way that requires permission, permission will have to be requested from both creators.
