Who owns research data

When the student then wants to publish parts of their dissertation, which copyright takes precedence? I think this post stands as a good introduction to the questions that inspired what will be a series of posts on data ownership and copyright. Please see future posts for answers to some of the questions posed above. I still welcome input from anyone with either personal or professional experience in this area.

I would also like to thank Ian Holmes ianholmes , MnkyMnd, Casey Bergman caseybergman , and Dan Stowell mclduk who, though not quoted here, also participated in the original discussion on Twitter. Just to note as I clarified in subsequent tweets that I am very far from being an expert on this stuff. What I said in the tweets that Erin quotes here is just hazily half-remembered bits and pieces.

I am very far from being an expert on copyright and absolutely nothing I ever say should be construed as legal advice, not even by the Italian government. Good point! I should have mentioned that nothing said here by either myself, or anyone I quote, should be construed as legal advice. Mike, sorry to bring you into this mess :. Really informative article Erin, on a very important issue.

I noticed that a huge lawsuit at U of Penn was recently settled. Thanks, John! I was not aware of this case. One obvious difference is that the student would not receive direct financial benefit from publishing in an academic journal, while Thompson was using research to benefit financially through his company. In addition, although I am not a tenure-track professor nor PI of my own grant, I imagine professors sign paperwork at the time of hiring and receiving funds that outline clearly what they can and cannot do with data obtained during the period of the grant or employment.

Students, on the other hand, more rarely receive such specific instructions, especially when it come to what they can or cannot do with their dissertation and what rights they are afforded if they have copyright. Therefore, whether or not Thompson was in the wrong I am not making judgement on the case , I can see to a certain extent why the institution felt it had the right to bring a legal claim for financial damages.

In the case of advisors and student dissertations, however, the waters look murkier to me. Many of the university policies you cite derive their force not from copyright, but from the necessity to honor contracts signed with grant funders — especially with respect to potential fraud or fund-misuse allegations.

Thanks for your comment. I tried to cover this a little more in the subsequent post, where I mentioned that students may be prevented from sharing data even if no copyright incurs due to non-disclosure agreements or clauses built into their contracts with the university.

Still, I wonder if, in some cases, universities and funders may be overstepping their bounds and simply relying on an element of fear to buffer their position. Do you know of any specific cases besides Abramson v. Thanks in advance for any info. To assure that they are able to meet these responsibilities, research institutions claim ownership rights over data collected with funds given to the institution. This means that researchers cannot automatically assume that they can take their data with them if they move to another institution.

The research institution that received the funds may have rights and obligations to retain control over the data. Data sources. Increasingly research subjects and other entities that are the source of data are seeking some control over data derived from them. Countries with unique resources, such as tropical rain forests, individuals with rare medical conditions, and entities with unique databases, have at one time or another claimed ownership of research results based on their data.

Research subjects and entities that have or can be the source of important data may no longer be willing to provide or be the source of data without some ownership stake in the end results.

Well before any data are collected, ownership issues and the responsibilities that come with them need to be carefully worked out. Before undertaking any work, make sure you can answer the following questions:. If you do not have firm answers for each of these questions, preferably in writing when financial interests are involved, you are not ready to begin your research.

It is also important to note that in most cases ownership provisions must be approved by the institution that receives and is responsible for the administration of research funds. Researchers therefore should not enter into agreements that affect the control and use of data without getting institutional approval.

The results could be disastrous and expensive if ownership is disputed later. Staff In general, Bond University owns intellectual property rights, including copyright, in research data originated by academic staff.

In the case of research works or data, the University assigns copyright in that work to the academic staff member who created the work.

The University retains the right to reproduce or disseminate this work for teaching and research purposes on a royalty-free basis. Bond University retains ownership over research that is used in course materials. The author is granted the right to reproduce or disseminate the work as part of their teaching and research.

The University also owns intellectual property rights in data created or generated by an academic staff member where the University has made a specific contribution to the creation or collection of data, e. Students In general, students own the copyright in all materials generated in the course of their studies, including their thesis and the research data, except for the following three situations:.

External parties Where research is conducted in collaboration with partners outside of Bond University, or for external agencies e. Ownership of copyright and other IP will commonly be dealt with in a document such as a funding agreement, contract or a memorandum of understanding.

All researchers should be familiar with the requirements of any funding agreements, contracts and partnership arrangements, and consider these during the data planning process. The Bond University Research Code of Conduct Policy and laws relating to ownership of copyright and other intellectual property apply to data that is used and created as part of research at the University.

Australian copyright law applies to research data that is created or compiled, in the same way that it applies to written works such as books, journal articles and reports.

The data must be sufficiently original for copyright protection.