Law and Licensing


Adapted from Open Data Institute (Dr Dave Tarrant and Ben Cave)


Stephen Gray | Bob Harper ยท @StephenGray | @bobdata

  • Discovering open data
  • Law and licensing
  • Making open data work for you
(please note, I am not a lawyer and this section should not be treated as legal advice)

Aim: Law and licensing

Increasing confidence in using and understanding open data licences

Outcomes

  • Describe how IPR and licensing relates to open data
  • Identify instances of open licences
  • Identify how you can use a dataset depending on the licence

Outcomes

  • Describe how IPR and licensing relates to open data
  • Identify instances of open licences
  • Identify how you can use a dataset depending on the licence

Why Licence?

  • A licence provides clarity
  • It sets out what users and re-users are permitted to do with your dataset
https://thomaslevine.com/!/open-data-licensing/

The ODI

Open data is data that anyone can access, use and share.

- Open Data Institute FAQ (2015 and current)

Intellectual Property Rights

Copyright

  • Applies to anything where there is an intellectual, creative and original process in its creation
  • "Facts" are not covered by copyright. Discovery is not an act of authorship.
  • Does not apply where the content created would have been the same whoever created it (obvious)

Monkey Selfie

Self-portrait by the depicted macaca nigra female, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=36464057
Wikipedia

Content and Copyright

Database and Contents

  • In the EU a database can be considered to be a creative work
  • This means that separate rights might exist for a database and its contents
  • Particularly the case when the database creator and the content creator(s) are not the same person

Examples: NOW compilations, stock photography database

Outcomes

  • Describe how IPR and licensing relates to open data
  • Identify instances of open licences
  • Identify how you can use a dataset depending on the licence

Open Government Licence (OGL)

The Open Government Licence
CC-BY-SA-4.0

wannaworktogether dv from Creative Commons on Vimeo.

Creative Commons content on Flickr

Open Database Licence (ODbL)

  • Distinguishes between the database and the contents.
  • A different licence can be applied to the contents, if wished.

Example: database and contents owned by same person:

This DATABASE is made available under the Open Database License: http://opendatacommons.org/licenses/odbl/1.0/

Any rights in individual CONTENTS of the database are licensed under the Database Contents License: http://opendatacommons.org/licenses/dbcl/1.0/

Open Database Licence (ODbL)

  • Distinguishes between the database and the contents.
  • A different licence can be applied to the contents, if wished.

Example: contents owned by others:

This DATABASE is made available under the Open Database License: http://opendatacommons.org/licenses/odbl/1.0/

Any rights in individual CONTENTS of the database are reserved by the owners of that content

Outcomes

  • Describe how IPR and licensing relates to open data
  • Identify instances of open licences
  • Identify how you can use a dataset depending on the licence

Checklist

Before reusing a dataset, think:
  • Do you have rights or permission to publish?
  • Do you have rights to use the data or contents?
  • Is the data or contents derived from other sources?
    • What are the permissions concerning those sources?
    Remember: access is not permission!

Exercise

Have a look at the dataset of UK Government Cats (unofficial) There is no licence.

Exercise

Can you download and open it?

Yes

Exercise

Can you publish how many mice kills Humphrey has made?

Yes - so long as an extract is not "substantial", you can publish it

Exercise

Can you add in the age of each cat and republish?

No, even if you attribute you have no automatic right to republish

Exercise

Can you summarise the data e.g. the average number of mice killed per cat?

Maybe. As long as it is not possible to reconstruct the database, and there are no other restrictions (e.g. no derivatives)

Exercise

Let's add an open licence, with attribution and share-alike requirements e.g.

Exercise

Can you remove the dead cats and publish the dataset yourself?

Yes! (as long as you attribute and attach a similar licence)

Exercise

Can you add a "lives left" column and publish the dataset on your website?

Yes! (so long as you're not using copyright content)

Exercise

Can you mix the dataset with you own data (e.g. Government Dogs) and sell it on?

Yes! There are no commercial restictions, but you would have to share-alike

Outcomes

  • Describe how IPR and licensing relates to open data
  • Identify instances of open licences
  • Identify how you can use a dataset depending on the licence
ODI Creative Commons