Ownership and copyright

Data producer support home page

Identifying rights holders and institutional policies

Ownership of research data is not always straightforward. Rights may be held by individual researchers, institutions, funders or collaborating organisations, depending on employment contracts, institutional policies and project agreements.

Intellectual property (IP) rights apply to research data and play a key role when creating, sharing, and reusing data. Many kinds of data created as part of a research project are subject to the same rights as literary or artistic works.

These might include texts, maps, audiovisual recordings, or information organised in a database. Such items retain rights like copyright or more general IP rights when they are created. This gives the rights owner control over the exploitation of their work, such as the right to copy and adapt the work, the right to rent or lend it, the right to communicate it to the public, and the right to licence and distribute. The two most relevant types of rights as far as research data are concerned are copyright and database rights.

Data producers should check:

  • institutional intellectual property policies
  • collaboration and consortium agreements
  • funder conditions
  • contractual arrangements with partners or contractors.

Many social science data contain multiple components with different rights status, such as data files, documentation, code and derived outputs. Each component may need to be assessed separately.

Where joint ownership applies, all relevant parties should agree on sharing and licensing arrangements before deposit.

Other rights

In addition to copyright, several other legal rights may apply to research data and associated materials. These can affect how data are shared, reused and made accessible, particularly for publicly funded research.

Understanding these rights helps data producers manage reuse permissions correctly and respond appropriately to access requests.

Creators of original works also hold moral rights, which are separate from copyright. Moral rights give authors the right to be identified as the creator of a work and to object to derogatory treatment of their work.

Moral rights:

  • cannot be transferred to another party
  • normally last for the same duration as copyright
  • can be waived by the author in writing
  • may be inherited after death.

In research contexts, moral rights typically relate to attribution and authorship recognition for documentation, code, and written research outputs.

Publication right applies when a person publishes previously unpublished material that is no longer protected by copyright.

This right recognises the effort involved in preparing and making such material available. For example, creating and publishing a database derived from unpublished historical source materials that are out of copyright may generate a publication right for the editor or compiler.

Publication rights provide protection similar to copyright for a limited period.

Many research datasets are structured as databases. In the UK and EU, databases may be protected by sui generis database rights, in addition to copyright in the content.

A database right applies when there has been substantial investment in obtaining, verifying or presenting the data in a systematic way. This does not usually apply to simple spreadsheets created without significant intellectual or organisational effort.

Database rights:

  • protect against unauthorised extraction or reuse of substantial parts of the database
  • normally last for 15 years from creation or publication
  • may be renewed if substantial updates are made.

In some cases, the database structure itself may also be protected by copyright.

The Freedom of Information Act 2000 gives the public the right to request access to recorded information held by public sector organisations, including universities and research institutions.

Research data may be subject to FOI requests. However:

  • copyright usually remains with the data creator
  • personal data are exempt from disclosure
  • information intended for future publication may be exempt
  • confidential research data may be protected
  • data already publicly available may be excluded.

FOI legislation affects access rights but does not automatically override data protection, confidentiality or ethical obligations.

The Environmental Information Regulations 2004 provide similar access rights for environmental information held by public authorities. This may include datasets relating to climate, land use, pollution or environmental monitoring used within social science research.

As with FOI:

  • access does not always imply unrestricted release
  • personal or sensitive data may still be protected
  • exemptions may apply in specific circumstances.

When preparing data for sharing or responding to access requests, data producers should:

  • understand which rights apply to their data and documentation
  • ensure licences and access conditions reflect these rights
  • consult institutional legal or research governance teams where needed
  • coordinate with repositories that manage access and reuse on their behalf.

Responsible repositories can help manage rights, licences and access requests in line with legal and ethical requirements.