Who holds copyright of data?
Copyright, an Intellectual Property Right reflecting the output of human intellect, applies to creative and artistic original work including written work, spoken word, photographs, databases, research data, etc. Copyright is automatically assigned and does not need to be applied for. Usually copyright is retained by the author of the original work; this could be an individual, organisation or institution. If a piece of work is completed as part of employment, the employer will retain copyright of the work. Anyone who is commissioned to create a piece of work on behalf of someone else will retain copyright of that work. See detailed information on copyright. When data have been created from a variety of sources or if the research has been funded by a number of organisations, there is shared copyright for all involved parties. In these cases permission to archive data must be sought from all interested parties and a covering letter confirming agreement should accompany the materials when
