R02. Licenses

From the CTS application:
The repository maintains all applicable licenses covering data access and use and monitors compliance.

The Dataverse community encourages open data sharing, by default applying CC0 waivers to deposited datasets, but collection support staff can define default terms of use and access for each dataset deposited in their Dataverse repository, and dataset depositors can edit their datasets’ terms of use and access metadata to inform others about any conditions for accessing and re-using the data.

The Dataverse software's guestbook and access request workflows can help collection support staff maintain control over data that has a range of different access criteria (not including very sensitive data):

  • Dataset depositors can require that anyone who tries to access the data files will need to provide certain information and agree to the depositors’ conditions.
  • Depositors can also restrict files and grant access to specific people or groups of people.
  • Access can be granted to each file, to all files in a dataset, and to all files in all datasets in a Dataverse repository.
     

Answers from successful applicants

Tilburg University Dataverse collection:

Deposits
When a data package is deposited at Tilburg University Dataverse, the depositor agrees with the DataverseNL General Terms of Use in which the duties of the depositor and archive are stated. These terms of use are available at
https://dans.knaw.nl/en/about/services/archiving-and-reusing-data/Datave...

Access to data
Tilburg University Dataverse gives researchers across the world the possibility to search for and access the deposited files. Tilburg University Dataverse currently defines the following access categories:

  1. Open access: all registered users may download freely
  2. Restricted access: registered users must first ask the depositor for permission

The data consumer needs to agree with the terms of use of DataverseNL each time he/she downloads a data file. The data consumer does this by clicking ‘yes’ for the checkbox statement ‘I agree and accept these terms of use’, which is given below the terms. The terms of use are available at https://dans.knaw.nl/en/about/services/archiving-and-reusing-data/Datave... (see on this page “general terms of use for DataverseNL”).

In the event of demonstrable abuse users may be excluded from access to the Tilburg University Dataverse. Further, the Dutch law applies to the usage of the DataverseNL data.
 

QDR:

QDR data are governed by a set of agreements between QDR and depositors (Standard Deposit Agreement), between QDR and downloaders (Standard Download Agreements), and by our General Terms and Conditions of Use. Their content is described in detail below. Currently, QDR disseminates none of its data under an open license (such as CC0 or
CC-BY). This decision, based on advice from similar repositories such as UK Data, reflects the particular sensitivity of much qualitative data. We constantly re-evaluate this policy to assure it serves the interest of our depositors, the human participants involved in the data projects that are deposited with us, as well as QDR’s stakeholders in the research community. We may in the future selectively apply open licenses to suitable data in consultation with their owners/depositors.

As part of the standard deposit agreement, depositors grant QDR all rights required to perform curation and preservation tasks on the data, specifically (drawn directly from the text of the agreement):

  • “To disseminate copies of the data project in a variety of media formats
  • To promote and advertise the data project in any forms or media
  • To describe, catalog, validate and provide documentation about the data
  • To store, translate, transfer, move, copy and re-format the data in any way to ensure its future preservation and accessibility
  • To incorporate metadata and documentation for the data project into public access catalogs.
  • To enhance, transform and/or re-arrange the data project, including the data and metadata, in order to protect respondent confidentiality, improve usability, or to facilitate any task listed [...] above.”

As part of our standard download agreement, researchers agree to use data only for research and teaching and to not attempt to re-identify individuals in de-identified data. The download agreement also bars the unauthorized redistribution of data, requires proper attribution during its use, and lists possible consequences for violating the agreement, which include possible bans from future use of QDR, reports to both institutional and federal bodies regulating research ethics, and potential legal action.

As part of a special deposit agreement, depositors can specify additional access conditions that can regulate who may access the data, and to which users need to explicitly agree (by signing a special download agreement) before downloading. Such access conditions are adjusted to reflect both the sensitivity of the data and the risk for re-identification and are custom-created in close communication with the depositor. Internally, restricted data are handled using specific
protocols as specified under R4.

Links:
General Terms and Conditions: https://qdr.syr.edu/termsandconditions
Standard Download Agreement (requires registration): https://qdr.syr.edu/discover/standarddownload
Standard Deposit Agreement (requires registration): https://qdr.syr.edu/deposit/standarddeposit
Special Deposit Agreement (requires registration): https://qdr.syr.edu/deposit/specialdeposit
Access controls: https://qdr.syr.edu/guidance/human-participants/access-controls
 

DataverseNO:

DataverseNO has agreements in place in order to regulate data deposit as well as data access and use.

Data deposit is regulated in the DataverseNO Deposit Agreement [1]. In order to deposit data into DataverseNO, the accept of this agreement has to be confirmed by the depositor on initial log-in to DataverseNO / signing up for a DataverseNO user account. The agreement covers the entire DataverseNO Policy Framework including several mutual rights and obligations that the depositor and UiT The Arctic University of Norway (owner of DataverseNO) accept regarding datasets to be deposited. The most important points are:

  • The depositor holds the rights to grant the rights contained in the DataverseNO Deposit Agreement.
  • If copyright terms for, or ownership of, the deposited data change, it is the responsibility of the Depositor to notify DataverseNO of these changes.
  • By depositing data into DataverseNO, the depositor grants to UiT The Arctic University of Norway (owner of DataverseNO) the non-exclusive right to reproduce, translate, and distribute the Dataset in any format or medium worldwide and royalty-free, including, but not limited to, publication over the Internet.
  • DataverseNO commits to preserving published Dataset in accordance with the DataverseNO Preservation Policy [2].

Data access and use are regulated in the DataverseNO Access and Use Policy [3]. Following the FAIR data principles, data in DataverseNO are released with a clear and accessible data usage license. As described in the DataverseNO Deposit Guidelines [4], the depositors are required to define a license for their dataset(s) at the time of deposit, and licensing information is displayed in the metadata for each dataset. The default Terms of Use for research data to be published in DataverseNO are Creative Commons CC0 – “No Right Reserved”, accompanied by the following wording: “Our Community Norms as well as good scientific practices expect that proper credit is given via citation. Please use the data citation above, generated by the archive”. The CC0 license is considered best practice for optimal reuse of research data. However, individual collections within DataverseNO may choose to use a different default license with different Terms of Use. The individual depositors may in any case deviate from the default license by specifying different Terms of Use for their deposited dataset(s). When trying to download a dataset with another license than CC0 (preferably CC BY), the user is presented the actual license and terms, and must accept the conditions before downloading. Note that the default license CC0 in DataverseNO for reuse of data implies that there are no restrictions on reuse of the data. However, as is also stated in the Terms of Use, good scientific practice entails that proper credit is given via citation. In case the CC0 license is not suitable for a dataset, the depositor of the dataset is asked to contact Research Data Service staff at the DataverseNO partner institution responsible for the collection at stake for advice on which alternative license to choose. In line with the intention of DataverseNO to provide maximum public access to unrestricted research data, DataverseNO promotes licenses that are recommended for the re-use of research data, and only accepts licenses providing access to deposited data in one form or another. Guidance on choosing license is part of the curation process previous to the publication of datasets. In the case non-compliance with any access and use license other than CC0 (or equivalent) is discovered, DataverseNO confers with the contact person for the dataset. The use of the dataset must be terminated immediately at the initial demand by DataverseNO. If the use is not terminated, DataverseNO may bring action against the user.

References:
[1] DataverseNO Deposit Agreement: https://site.uit.no/dataverseno/about/policy-framework/deposit-agreement/
[2] DataverseNO Preservation Policy: https://site.uit.no/dataverseno/about/policy-framework/preservation-policy/
[3] DataverseNO Access and Use Policy, section Copyright and Licensing:
https://site.uit.no/dataverseno/about/policy-framework/access-and-use-po...
[4] DataverseNO Deposit Guidelines: https://site.uit.no/dataverseno/deposit/