[open-science] Openness and Licensing of (Open) Data

Mon Feb 9 16:34:51 UTC 2009

On Mon, Feb 9, 2009 at 10:25 AM, Bill Hooker <cwhooker at fastmail.fm> wrote:

> I thought the native state of data was public domain.  Copyright does
> not inhere in facts, and patents have to be applied for to be got, so
> why would you have to license data to make it public domain?

In the United States, this is true. In Europe, "database rights"
complicate the issue considerably. I strongly recommend taking a look
at the last chapter of James Boyle's new book _The Public Domain_ for
a straightforward explanation. <http://www.thepublicdomain.org/>

> Another question: are attribution and share-alike compatible with public
> domain?

As part of a license, no. As part of a set of norms, yes.

Dorothea

-- 
Dorothea Salo                dsalo at library.wisc.edu
Digital Repository Librarian      AIM: mindsatuw
University of Wisconsin
Rm 218, Memorial Library
(608) 262-5493