Copyright

Copyright considerations are critical in determining whether and under what conditions visual research data can be deposited in archives and made accessible over time. As a general rule, copyrighted visual materials may only be shared with the prior authorization of the rights holder. Researchers must therefore verify who holds the relevant rights, whether they themselves, co-authors, employers, institutions, or third parties, and ensure they have obtained all necessary permissions prior to archiving.

Identifying the applicable legal framework and defining a copyright strategy

First, researchers should identify the applicable national copyright law under the territoriality principle of the Berne Convention and assess whether the visual qualifies as a protected work (i.e., human-created and sufficiently original) and whether protection is still in force or the work is in the public domain. 

If researchers hold copyright, they should define reuse of licensing conditions. If not, they must verify whether existing licenses allow repository deposit, reuse, and long-term preservation, or obtain permission. These choices determine the level of openness and should be documented in the Data Management Plan to ensure lawful, sustainable archiving. 

Licensing visual data for reuse: The role of Creative Commons

When researchers retain copyright over their visual data, it is essential, and often required by funders, to specify whether, and under which conditions, such materials may be reused by others. Licensing serves as the mechanism to provide legal clarity and to facilitate responsible reuse. 

Creative Commons licenses offer a standardized and widely adopted framework that allows researchers to communicate usage rights without the need to draft custom legal agreements. 

However, these licenses apply only to copyright and do not override data protection regulations. When researchers publish data under a Creative Commons license, it is generally assumed that either no personal data are included, informed consent for data sharing has been obtained from the individuals concerned, or, though rarely, a prevailing public interest justifies the disclosure. While all Creative Commons licenses allow for reuse, they differ in the scope and conditions of the permissions they grant.