Data Licensing
In the context of datasets, a license is a legal agreement that enables the dataset owner to grant permission to others to use the dataset under specific conditions.
What’s the difference between license and copyright?
Copyright is a type of intellectual property that gives the owner of an original works of authorship the exclusive legal right to use, copy, distribute, adapt, display and perform that work for a certain amount of time. A license is a legal way for the copyright owner to allow someone else to use the work under specific conditions and limits.
Copyright is territorial, meaning that the legal right and protection is acquired and enforced on a country-by-country basis. The U.S. Copyright Act of 1976 (17 U.S.C. §§ 101, et. seq.) (the “Act”) governs copyright law in the United States and generally provides that copyright arises in original works of authorship once the work is fixed in any tangible medium or expression, but does not protect the underlying facts, ideas, principles, or discoveries of the work.
Accordingly, while the raw data of a dataset is not copyrightable, the dataset itself may be, depending on how the dataset was created. As long as there is some level of creativity in e.g., the compilation, arrangement and/or organization of the data into the set, the dataset can be copyrightable.
Section 105 of the Act exempts works “prepared by an officer or an employee of the United States Government as part of that person’s official duties” from receiving any copyright in the United States. [1] In other words, even if the dataset itself may be copyrightable, if it was created by a federal employee as part of their official duties, no U.S. copyright arises in the dataset, although the U.S. Government may reserve any foreign copyright, to the extent those foreign nations recognize copyright in U.S. Government works. Accordingly, such datasets and other works of the U.S. Government are in the U.S. public domain, which means that anyone may use, copy, distribute, adapt, display and perform that work in the U.S. without permission. Copyright law is a complex topic, please reach out to the Solicitor’s Office for any questions or guidance.
What licenses should be applied to publicly accessible USGS data?
Creative Commons licenses provide creators such as USGS with a tool to grant to the public permission to use the creative work. There are six different Creative Commons licenses and one public dedication tool.
Generally, use CC Zero when:
- Data are wholly produced by USGS employees and will be managed and released by USGS,
- Data are produced wholly or in part by non-Federal collaborators, partners, or contractors wherein the relevant agreements permit the USGS to release the data products thereof under CC Zero.
Use CC BY or a more restrictive open license when:
- Data are produced wholly or in part by non-Federal collaborators, partners, or contractors who require attribution or additional restrictions for use of data.
- Data are produced incorporating other data that are subject to specific restrictions.
It is important to ensure that the open license aligns or is compatible with any restrictions applied to the dataset. Refer to your data management plan and other agreements with non-USGS partners to ensure that the appropriate license is assigned to the dataset and consult with the Solicitor’s Office if necessary.
When are licenses not applicable to USGS data?
Do not assign any license when USGS is not responsible for release of the data. For example:
- The data will be returned to a federal collaborator at the end of the project for management and release by the collaborator, per the data management plan or agreement to share data
- The data will be returned to an external, non-federal collaborator or funder at the end of the project, per the data management plan or agreement to share data
- The data have been certified by the USGS Records Officer that they are not subject to release, due to national security, personally identifiable information (PII), Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI), indigenous knowledge, or other concerns
The data were acquired from another federal agency under a formal data sharing agreement that prohibits their release
Why do we use Creative Commons Zero Public Domain Dedication instead of just stating it is “Public Domain”?
To be truly open when sharing our data, the USGS needs to explain clearly how people can use them. Most of the time, the data we release are available for everyone to use as they wish. A work of authorship that is in the public domain means that the work is free from copyright and open for all to use. This designation, while appropriate in the United States for works of the U.S. Government, may not be appropriate elsewhere, as certain foreign jurisdictions do in fact recognize copyright in government works. Moreover, certain other foreign jurisdictions do not recognize or allow authors to place their work in the public domain. The Creative Commons Zero public dedication tool resolves such issues by providing the USGS a way to waive all of its foreign copyright and related rights in the dataset to the fullest extent allowable by law.
How is the applicable license communicated to potential users of the data?
License information is required to be included in some contexts, and recommended in others:
DOI (Required): License information is a required component when creating a DOI (Digital Object Identifier) for USGS data. Users are prompted to select a license during the DOI creation process, ensuring that the dataset is associated with a specific license.
Metadata (Recommended): It is strongly recommended to include licensing information in the dataset's metadata. The section of metadata that contains license information will differ between FGDC-CSDGM metadata and ISO metadata.
Examples:
- In CSGDM metadata, the license details can be included under the `Identification Information` section’s `Use Constraints` element within the metadata record, following the format: metadata > idinfo > useconst
- ISO 19115 metadata contain a ‘resourceConstraints’ section that may be appropriate for license information. In ISO 19115-2, the section would be: MD_LegalConstraints > useConstraints
Data Repository Landing Page (Recommended): Include text that states and links to the license on the landing page for the data or embed the license information using the HTML code associated with the license.
Example: This work is marked with Creative Commons Zero v1.0 Universal (https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/).
What the U.S. Geological Survey Manual Requires
H.R.4174 - Foundations for Evidence-Based Policymaking Act of 2018
The Foundations for Evidence-Based Policymaking Act of 2018 requires that agencies maintain each public data asset, as defined in the Act, of the agency under an open license. The Act defines an open license as a “legal guarantee that a data asset is made available (A) at no cost to the public; and (B) with no restrictions on copyright, publishing, distributing, transmitting, citing, or adapting such asset.” 44 U.S.C. § 3502(21).
Generally, data created by federal employees within the scope of their employment are not eligible for U.S. copyright protection under 17 U.S.C. § 105, and accordingly, such data may be made available under an open license such as CC0. Other data, such as data created by non-federal individuals, including those created in the performance of a contract or other agreement with a federal agency, may be subject to copyright or other intellectual property protections that may preclude copying or modification. Such other data that cannot practicably be made available under an open license are not subject to the open license requirement under the Act.
| Agents involved in the collection, processing, analysis, or compilation of the final data release, or any input data that are part of the final release | Assign this license |
| USGS federal employees only | CC0 |
| Other federal government agency (alone, or in collaboration with USGS federal employees) | CC0, however, care must be exercised to confirm the copyright status of the data with the other federal agency. |
| USGS federal employees and USGS contractors or non-federal associates working under a USGS contract or agreement |
|
| USGS contractors or non-federal associates only, working under a USGS contract or agreement | See guidance immediately above |
| Data licensed from a third party | If the contract or agreement stipulates that the third-party data used are copyrighted and cannot be shared as part of a public data release, the project team must evaluate whether any new/novel data from the project that are not subject to copyright can be meaningfully shared in a data release; if so, assign a license to the shareable data only accordingly using the above guidance, and note in the Data Quality section of the metadata what licensed data were used in the project (what specific data and who owns them) and that they are restricted under copyright from release. It is strongly recommended to consult with the Solicitor’s Office. |
| Data officially marked or determined by a USGS records officer, or another USGS approving official as non-public or not subject to public dissemination | No license will be assigned; data are not subject to release |