Data licensing refers to placing restrictions (or lack thereof) on data and digital outputs which outline how other researchers, educators, and scientific bodies may access and use the data. Below are several resources for licenses that are appropriate for open data:
- Organization: The Apache Software Foundation
Link: https://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
- Organization: Creative Commons
Link: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/
Contains: Information on how and when to use the Creative Commons License. When researchers choose to publish their work with a Creative Commons license, there are four main license categories offered:- Attribution (BY)
- ShareAlike (SA)
- NonCommercial (NC)
- NoDerivatives (ND)
- Organization: DataONE Education Modules
Link: https://www.dataone.org/education-modules
Contains: Lesson 10: Legal and Policy Issues contains information on best practices in licensing data.
- Organization: MANTRA Research Data Management Training
Link: https://mantra.edina.ac.uk/sharingpreservationandlicensing/
Contains: This particular linked training provides information on best practices in licensing data.
- Organization: Open Definition
Link: https://opendefinition.org/guide/data/
Contains: A Guide to Open Data Licensing: answers practical questions on how to license data, and discusses what kind of rights (intellectual property or other) exist in data in various jurisdictions.