Re: CC-ND waver/license and data 'reuse'

On Wed, 30 Jan 2013, Andrea Splendiani wrote:

> No Derivative Works — You may not alter, transform, or build upon this work.
>
> Doesn't sound like building on the shoulders of giants, doesn't it?

no, and that's why we (at uniprot) want to change it. if you read the actual 
legal text it sounds much less strict, but who reads (and understands!) the 
legal text... i've had the opportunity to ask 2 lawyers, but it was very hard 
for them to understand what file formats are and why we need several of them, 
and i could not get a clear answer to what whould be a derivative and what not 
(e.g. another XML or RDF format? a change of the FASTA header?).

> But the question is: does it refer to an information artifact (e.g. an image) or its content?

* individual facts are not protected by copyright, hence CC licenses do not 
apply to them, i.e. you can copy individual facts from a database.

* copyright applies to minimally creative works expressed in a fixed form, i.e. 
a database can be protected as a whole by copyright. but the definition of 
'minimally creative works' can vary across jurisdictions!

* europe has a 'sui generis database right', i.e. a database owner will be able 
to enforce their database right even if the copyright-protected elements of the 
database have been licensed under a CC 3 license that says you can do whatever 
you want.

the historic reason why uniprot had chosen a CC-ND license was to have some 
control over the quality of derivative works (as our license says, you can ask 
uniprot for a permission to distribute derivative works, and you will usually 
get it). the CC 4 license promises to address specifically the concerns of 
database providers to offer data in a way that gives them credit, maintains 
their reputation, and ensures some level of data integrity. it will also handle 
sui generis database rights on par with copyright which should make our license 
more consistent for users in different jurisdictions. we intend to switch from 
CC BY-ND 3.0 to CC BY 4.0 when this version becomes available.

best,
nicole

ps: CC BY 4.0 also promises to address the problem of attribution stacking.

> Best,
> Andrea
>
> Apologies for typos, Sent from an iPhone
>
> On 30/gen/2013, at 15:58, Jerven Bolleman <me@jerven.eu> wrote:
>
>> Hi All,
>>
>> We (uniprot) are working on changing this to be more permissive. But
>> are waiting on the CC4 process.
>> If you want to know more please write to help@uniprot.org as I do not
>> know specifics.
>>
>> Regards,
>> Jerven
>>
>> On Wed, Jan 30, 2013 at 4:44 PM, Michel Dumontier
>> <michel.dumontier@gmail.com> wrote:
>>>
>>> UniProt uses this restrictive non-open license
>>>
>>> ftp://ftp.uniprot.org/pub/databases/uniprot/current_release/rdf/README
>>>
>>> m.
>>>
>>> On Wed, Jan 30, 2013 at 5:52 AM, Susanna Sansone <sa.sansone@gmail.com>
>>> wrote:
>>>>
>>>> Hi all,
>>>> calling on your expertise, please.
>>>> I am looking for real experiences and examples showing if and how a CC-ND
>>>> waver/license for data files and related experimental descriptors limits its
>>>> reuse (as derivative works won't be allowed, e.g. data mush-ups, linked
>>>> data).
>>>> Beside the official CC pages on CC-ND and several sites echoing the same
>>>> text and theory, does any of you/working groups have direct experience on
>>>> this matter? Also pointers to articles and white papers is very much
>>>> appreciated.
>>>> Many thanks in advance,
>>>> Susanna
>>>>
>>>> --
>>>> Susanna-Assunta Sansone, PhD
>>>> uk.linkedin.com/in/sasansone
>>>>
>>>> University of Oxford e-Research Centre
>>>> Principal Investigator, Team Leader
>>>> isacommons.org | biosharing.org
>>>>
>>>> Nature Publishing Group
>>>> Consultant
>>>> Data Products
>>>> --
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> --
>>> Michel Dumontier
>>> Associate Professor of Bioinformatics, Carleton University
>>> Chair, W3C Semantic Web for Health Care and the Life Sciences Interest Group
>>> http://dumontierlab.com
>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> Jerven Bolleman
>> me@jerven.eu
>>
>

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  Nicole Redaschi                         Nicole.Redaschi@isb-sib.ch
  SIB Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics   Tel: +41 (0)22 379 59 65
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