Understanding Open Data Regulation: An Analysis of the Licensing Landscape

Open data models have been developed to improve democratic participation, transparency, and innovation. There is a growing variation in open data policies and licenses that aim to maximize dissemination and reuse of data and databases. Diverse tools have been developed, tailored to the specific field of open data licensing. However, the normative framework of open data is nuanced, and intellectual property laws differ in the treatment of data and databases. The open data regulatory system created from the existing legal framework, the adopted open data policies, and the licenses developed presents an inherent complexity that impedes data reusability. The chapter investigates legal issues stemming from that system in the current open data environment. The objective is to showcase solutions to that complexity stemming from the evolution of open data licenses, policies, and ultimately, intellectual property laws.