This article explains when research data is protected by copyright.

Introduction

Publishing research data enables others to discover and reuse it. However, even though the data is publicly and openly available, it may still be copyright-protected. Thus, its licence, i.e. terms of use, should be adhered to.

What is copyright?

Copyright, a type of intellectual property, protects the exclusive ownership of creative works. With copyright, creators control how their work is used, reproduced, and distributed. To receive copyright protection, the work must meet the following requirements:

• Have an original character of its own, which means that the work is not borrowed from other works
• Bear the personal stamp of the author/creator, which means that it is the result of a person’s creativity

You can present and make your research data available in different forms. For example, as graphs, diagrams, discussions in text, a list of numbers, or as a collection in a database. Depending on its form, the data could be protected by copyright or database right.

Unprotected research data

Bare facts, or factual research data, are not protected by copyright because they do not fit the abovementioned criteria. For example, when you present a series of measurements in a table in a way that anyone could create a similar table, such as temperature measurements, population numbers and simple statistical data. 

Copyright-protected research data

Your research data becomes copyright-protected when you process bare facts into a form of expression for which personal/subjective choices are made, for example, when you design and visualise data in a diagram or graph, when you discuss research data in a research article, or when you make a specific selection of data or arrange the data in a specific manner. When reusing these works, you need to adhere to the applied licence. Note: when you extract data points – bare facts – from, for example, a graph, the data points are not copyright-protected.

Database right

Database right protects the data in a database. The right lies with the creator(s) of the database and protects the database against third parties that wish to use large portions of the database or use it without consent or payment. Database right applies when your database:

• consists of independent items,
• is searchable or is systematically arranged to trace individual items
• requires a substantial investment (e.g. time and/or money), database right applies. 

However, when a database fits the abovementioned criteria for a work, it is subject to copyright protection.

Questions & support

Do you have questions about this service or would you like personal support? Feel free to contact us. You can send an email to the Copyright Information Point.