1. Intellectual Property Rights (IPR)
Data Ownership
Intellectual Property Rights (IPR)

2. Overview Why worry about ownership? Who owns ‘your’ data?
Written agreements
Intellectual Property
Principles of Data Ownership
Authorship

3. Why worry about ownership?
What do you do if…?
– A researcher leaves the project taking the datasets away
– and … that was the only copy
– A student returns home and refuses to share the data until they have published their thesis
– Any other problems you know of…

4. Who owns ‘your’ data? Sponsor Project Leader Project Institute
Researcher / scientist / fieldworker
Data manager
Respondent
Someone else…

5. Written agreement
A ‘Data Sharing Agreement’ or a ‘Memorandum of Understanding’ is necessary
It should be prepared at the outset of the project
Is stored with the project protocols

6. Intellectual Property
Generally applies to something intangible – e.g. an idea
Includes everything from research data to major inventions
Protection for IP includes patents, copyright, design rights, etc.
For data, the IP is the information contained within the data

7. Agreed policy should allow…
Fully-shared ownership & accessibility of the data to all project partners
Data to be accessible to and shared with other potential users
Issues of respondent confidentiality
Data release to legitimate users external to the project – after a set period of time

8. Principles of Data Ownership 1
Research data belong to institutes not individuals – because only institutes can ensure long-term security
Data generated by collaborating institutions belong jointly to those institutions
Data collected using public funds is public property – everyone has a responsibility to ensure maximum value is realised from it

9. Principles of Data Ownership 2
Scientists generating research data have a right to recognition for their work (Authorship)
Scientists generating research data using public funds have a duty to use the data for the purpose for which funding was provided and to publish the findings
Data ownership and IP should be managed as to balance interests of scientists, donors, institutions, and society as a whole

10. Consequences Every dataset must have a clear ownership status
Policies and procedures must be in place to allow public access to data
Balance between protection of IPR for individual scientists and public access
Documenting and publicising data - archiving

11. Authorship Being named as an author means: But also means:
You are recognised for your work
You can list the publication on your CV
But also means:
You are responsible for errors of fact or interpretation
You have to be able to defend the publication when it is criticised

12. Who is an author? An author makes substantial contributions to:
Conception & design, or analysis & interpretation of data; and to
Drafting the article or revising it critically for important intellectual content; and on
Final approval of the version to be published

13. Student work
A thesis that is written (authored) by a student – the student is the sole author
Papers arising from thesis may be jointly authored
BUT student supervision alone does not give the right to claim authorship

14. Edited volumes An editor is responsible for the quality of the content
Must have read, commented on, corrected and approved the whole content
Making changes marked by others or changing the layout or presentation is NOT being an editor