Professional Documents
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memo
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vol 5
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Citizen science is an emerging field that encourages
collaboration between scientists and the general public,
leading to new research and discovery. But coordinators
of citizen science projects need to be aware of
intellectual property rights because of their potential to
lead to unanticipated consequences that may hinder
the dissemination or use of the research produced by
these projects. This paper outlines a typology of citizen
science projects based upon intellectual property
issues, focusing largely on issues that may arise from
contributions to the research project by the public and
that may arise from project output.
Our typology classifies citizen science projects
according to four broad categories, which are defined
in terms of the nature of participants contributions,
specifically involving:
INTRODUCTION
Citizen science is a name given to a rapidly evolving and
diverse set of projects that adopt public participation
as a means of advancing a research teams scientific
goals. A number of different typologies for citizen
science have already been proposed, based on factors
such as the degree of public participation or the goals
and technological sophistication of the project.1 The
typology we propose in this paper is one that examines
citizen science through the lens of intellectual property
law, using features significant in the intellectual property
context to categorize different types of projects.
We propose a typology to assist developers of citizen
science projects and participants in citizen science
to understand the nature of contributions from an
misunderstandings or disputes.
FIGURE 1: This photograph was taken by a volunteer, and shared with a citizen science
project researching plant phenology.
PHOTO CREDIT: Anne Bowser. The volunteer holds the right to this photo.
Duration of
Protection
Ownership19
Formalities
None. Copyright
arises automatically
on creation of the
work; however,
registration is
possible and
confers some
benefits.
The inventor of an
invention is the first owner
of a patent. Ownership of
a patent may be assigned
by contract.
A patent must be
applied for and
applications are
subject to rigorous
review procedures.
As long as secrecy
is maintained.
Database rights
15 years from
the date of
completion of the
database, though
any substantial
revisions to the
database may give
rise to a new
database entitled
to its own 15 year
term of protection.
No formalities
required.
(Copyright Act, 17
U.S.C.)
Patent
(Patent Act, 35
U.S.C.)
Trade Secrets
1. Classification/Transcription
Observation of recorded materials provided by project
organizers (images, video, etc.)
Transcribing information
2. Data gathering
Observation of natural phenomena (wildlife, plants,
insects)
Submitting photographs
Providing written observations in participants own
words
Monitoring environmental conditions (air or water
quality, etc.)
3. Research subject
Providing personal and/or medical information
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Examples of Projects
Unlikely
Unlikely
Moon Zoo
Bat Detective
WhaleFM
Cell Slider
Unlikely
Unlikely
Unlikely
Citizen Sort
FoldIt
Eterna
Quirky
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DISCLAIMER
This is a working paper to be submitted for peer review. This report should not be
construed as legal advice. Groups should consult with counsel prior to adopting any
of the strategies identified in this report.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The authors wish to thank Anne Bowser, Elizabeth Tyson, and David Rejeski
for their comments on earlier drafts of this paper.
We gratefully acknowledge the support of Lea Shanley, founder and former
Director of the Commons Lab, who initiated this study before transitioning
to her new position.
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TERESA SCASSA is the Canada Research Chair in Information Law at the University of Ottawa,
where she is also a professor at the Faculty of Law. She is the author of
the book Canadian Trademark Law (LexisNexis 2010) and co-author
of Electronic Commerce and Internet Law in Canada, (CCH Canadian
Ltd. 2012) and Law Beyond Borders: Extraterritorial Jurisdiction in an
Age of Globalization (Irwin Law 2014). She is also a co-editor of the
recently published book titled Intellectual Property for the 21st Century:
Interdisciplinary Approaches (Irwin Law 2014).
Dr. Scassa has written widely in the areas of intellectual property law,
law and technology, and privacy. She holds law degrees from McGill
University, and an LL.M. and doctorate in law from the University of Michigan. She is a member
of the Nova Scotia bar.
HAEWON CHUNG is a doctoral candidate in law at the University of Ottawa. Ms. Chungs
research area includes intellectual property law, digital ethics, collaborative
information production, and law & technology in general. For her doctoral
program, Ms. Chung received the prestigious Joseph-Armand Bombardier
Canada Graduate Scholarship from the Social Sciences and Humanities
Research Council of Canada. Prior to entering law school, Ms. Chung studied
and worked as a computer scientist for nearly a decade, where she specialized
in digital information management research including healthcare data
management. Ms. Chung has published peer-reviewed articles in computer
science and in law. Ms. Chung will continue to explore various legal issues
related to the development and the use of digital technology.
ENDNOTES
1. See, e.g.: R. Bonney, H. Ballard, R. Jordan, E. McCallie, T.
Phillips, J. Shirk, and C. Wilderman, Public Participation
in Scientific Research: Defining the Field and Assessing
its Potential for Informal Science Education. A CAISE
Inquiry Group Report, Center for Advancement of
Informal Science Education (CAISE), Washington DC,
Tech. Rep., 2009, http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED519688.
pdf; Andrea Wiggins and K. Crowston. 2011. From
Conservation to Crowd Sourcing: A Typology of Citizen
Science. Proceedings of the 44th Hawaii International
Conference on System Sciences 2011.http://crowston.
syr.edu/content/conservation-crowdsourcing-typologycitizen-science.
2. Anne Bowser and Lea Shanley. 2013. New Visions in
Citizen Science. Wilson Center, Commons Lab, Case
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COMMONS LAB advances research and non-partisan policy analysis on emerging technologies that
facilitate collaborative, science-based and citizen-driven decision-making. New tools like social media
and crowdsourcing methods are empowering average people to monitor their environment, collectively
generate actionable scientific data, and support disaster response.
http://CommonsLab.wilsoncenter.org
http://bit.ly/CommonsLabVideo
@STIPCommonsLab
/CommonsLab
http://bit.ly/CommonsLabReports
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