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Author's Right, Copyright and Free Licenses for Culture on the Web/Types of Content/Open Data

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46. What is open data?

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Open Data (OD) is data accessible to everyone, can be freely used, reused and redistributed by anyone, subject to the conditions set out in the license under which they are distributed, including attribution and different sharing restrictions.

According to the Open Knowledge Foundation definition: “A piece of content or data is open if anyone is free to use, reuse, and redistribute it – subject only, at most, to the requirement to attribute and share-alike.”

The key features of openness are:

  • Availability and access
  • Reuse and redistribution
  • Universal participation
Linked Open Data (LOD) is Linked Data which is released under an open license, which does not impede its reuse for free
—Tim Berners-Lee
References:
  • "What is Open Data?". Open Data Handbook. Retrieved 2021-02-22;
  • "Open Definition 2.1". Open Knowledge Foundation. Retrieved 2021-02-22;
  • "Cosa sono gli open data" (in Italian). Open Government Partnership Italia. Retrieved 2021-02-22;
  • "5 ★ Open Data". 5 ★ Open Data. Retrieved 2021-02-22.

47. Which is the difference between data and metadata?

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Data are single pieces of information that describe a specific object (e.g. “Édouard Manet, The Spring, 1881”).

Metadata is a series of information about the data that is intended to describe its content, structure and context (for example “author”, “title”, “year”, ...).

There are several metadata systems, or sets of information such as the Dublin Core Metadata Initiative, which represents a standard for exchanging information. Different metadata features lead to different types:

  • Management administrative (used for the management and administration of information resources, e.g. MAG or METS);
  • Descriptives (from MARC to Dublin Core);
  • Structural;
  • Conservation (including migration);
  • Technical (behavior of metadata and functioning of systems);
  • Use (related to the level and type of use of the user).
References:

48. Where do I publish my open data?

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There are several web portals (regional, national, international) where it is possible to publish Open Data. Some are managed by public institutions (e.g. Europeana) and others by non-profit foundations (e.g.Wikimedia Foundation). There are also Open Data repositories (Internet Archive, Github, Zenodo) and Open Access data journal. Open Data can also be published on the institute's website in an open format.

References:

49. In what formats do I publish my open data?

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Open data must be published in an open format, in a non-proprietary format that guarantees reading by any program and does not present any legal restrictions on its use. The most common open formats for publishing data are:

  • XML
  • CSV
  • JSON
  • GeoJSON
  • KML
  • GML
  • ODT
  • ODS
  • ODP
  • RDF
  • PNG
  • SVG

50. What license does apply to open data?

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A license is a legal instrument that conveys a right, accompanied by a promise, by the grantor, not to sue the beneficiary, should this right be exercised; it is a kind of authorization to do something or use an asset that otherwise, without a license, would not be permitted by law. In the context of property rights rules, a license is a unilateral permission to use someone else's property. The same is true for intangible assets. It is not enough to apply a license in order to make a resource "open", but the resource must be "open" in terms of real and effective interoperability, avoiding the use of licenses only as something fashionable. There are closed licenses and open licenses. Licenses must be applied by the rights holder and are applicable to protected material. Broadly speaking, the types of open licenses are divided into:

  • Creative Commons (CC);
  • Open Government License (OGL);
  • Open Data Commons (ODC);
  • Public Domain (PD).

The CC0 1.0 dedication to public domain, no copyright, is a tool with which the owner of the rights declares that it is not necessary to attribute the work to its author as the author has waived all their rights (also moral rights, where the legislation permits it) and allows the user to modify, share the work also for commercial purposes. Using CC0 has the effect of placing a work into the public domain worldwide.

51. Can raw data be subject to copyright?

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The single data as such does not have sufficient “creativity” to guarantee the emergence of a copyright on it. In fact, the general principle of non-protectability of the data itself is in force pursuant to the law on copyright. However, according to existing European regulations, there may be a copyright on the whole of the data produced, in cases in which such data complex is published for the first time ever or innovations are introduced, in the content or in the form of correlation of data, such as to justify protection of the unpublished work performed (see also section “Databases”).

52. What are FAIR data?

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“FAIR data” means open data produced in the context of university and / or scientific research and made available to the public, according to the so-called “FAIR principles”, namely:

  • Findability: data must be easily traceable in their entirety;
  • Accessibility: data must be freely accessible by all in their entirety;
  • Interoperability: data must be published in formats and with exchange protocols that allow the widest possible reuse, possibly open source;
  • Reusability: data must be published under a license that allows for the widest possible reuse.
Reference: "FAIR Principles". Go FAIR. Retrieved 2021-02-22.
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