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Creative Commons For Psi

The document discusses using Creative Commons licenses to license public sector information for reuse. It explains what Creative Commons licenses are and which licenses are most suitable for open government data. It also notes some limitations of Creative Commons licenses and issues to be aware of like database rights.

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ePSI Platform
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233 views

Creative Commons For Psi

The document discusses using Creative Commons licenses to license public sector information for reuse. It explains what Creative Commons licenses are and which licenses are most suitable for open government data. It also notes some limitations of Creative Commons licenses and issues to be aware of like database rights.

Uploaded by

ePSI Platform
Copyright
© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Fact Sheet Version May 2011

Creative Commons to License PSI Re-use


Version May 2011

What is this fact sheet about? When public sector information is made available for re-use, it is essential that the conditions under which re-use is allowed are not only transparent but also easy to grasp. Creative Commons (CC) licenses are an increasingly popular way to do this, but not all CC licenses may be suitable for PSI, and not all relevant aspects may be covered. such as the USA, for instance, have no government copyright, and PSI is in the public What is a Creative Commons License? Creative Commons provides a number of license domain by default. conditions that allow right holders, such as public Not all CC licences are 'open' sector bodies, to say up-front which types of use Not all varieties of CC licenses are appropiate for they allow and which conditions apply to the use. the purpose of making PSI available as open data. Conditions one can choose to impose are: Essentially, only the CC 0 and CC BY (attribution) 0: anybody can use the work for anything, licenses are fully open licenses when it comes to no conditions attached. open government data. The other license types BY: anybody can use the work for limit re-use directly or cause problems for reanything as long as the original author is users 'down-stream' (i.e., when re-using material acknowledged. that is re-using PSI): NC: use is limited to non-commercial ND: the no derivative works clause disallows forms. re-use, except full reproduction. SA: use is permitted provided the NC: the non-commercial restriction excludes resulting work is released under the same many forms of possible re-use. license conditions. SA: the share alike condition can cause ND: no derivative works are allowed. problems when combining datasets with These conditions cater to a variety of needs that different (SA) conditions, as this can create public sector bodies may have and allows them to doubt about the license applicable to the state these up-front (as opposed to default resulting work and may also hamper, for copyright which requires explicit, separate instance, commercial re-use. This creates permission for almost every form of use), while silos that lock-in PSI, making new still being in control of their rights. The CC combinations of works that already contain licenses are available in machine and human re-used PSI difficult or impossible. readable formats, as well as in the form of legal texts, for a large number of jurisdictions Watch out for database rights! worldwide. In Europe under the Database Directive producers of databases enjoy a special right, called sui Creative Commons and PSI Re-use generis rights (database rights). This protection Various public sector bodies around Europe are can apply even if the content of the database is already using Creative Commons licenses when itself not copyright protected, but a substantial opening up PSI for re-use. For instance, the Dutch investment has been made in obtaining, verifying national government publishes all its web-based or presenting the contents of the database. information under a CC 0 license, and the city of Creative Commons licenses do not always specify Vienna uses a CC BY license. or waive database rights. If a public sector body owns such database rights, a CC license may not When is CC useful for PSI? be enough to fully specify the re-use conditions. CC licenses cover aspects of copyright. In The open data commons has more information on countries where the state has copyright on PSI data licenses. (e.g., UK and Netherlands, excluding law texts), CC can be of use for PSI re-use. Some countries,

ePSI Platform Fact Sheets provide short introductions to key concepts and developments, allowing new comers to the PSI re-use arena to get up to speed swiftly. Find ePSI Platform Fact Sheets at epsiplatform.eu.

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