Data management good practices

Research data may not be copyrightable in the U.S. However, certain intellectual property policies and licenses may inform how you and others can share and use data. Learn about proper attribution and how copyright relates to your research.

Nancy Sims, Copyright Librarian
Making Decisions About Your Research Data
September 7th, 2012
Video: 6 min 37 sec.

Assigning a license can help clarify how you want people to use your data. 

• Creative Commons licenses are one way to state whether those reusing your data should provide attribution and whether they can use your data for commercial purposes or to create derivative works. Use this interactive tool to help you choose a license for your work.
• Open Data Commons Public Domain Dedication & License (ODC-PDDL)
• The library has created a Fair Use guide that may help you toward what you can and cannot do with data.
• The UMN Office of Technology Commercialization offers some Guidelines on Maintaining Lab Notebooks that may facilitate potentially patentable discoveries.

•     Commercialization of Intellectual Property Rights
•     Copyright Ownership
•     Public Access to University Information
•     Openness in Research