d4.2: draft of a position paper for policy makers on the ... · the concept of essential...

GLOBIS-B(654003)

Projectacronym:GLOBIS-BProjectfulltitle:“GLOBalInfrastructuresforSupportingBiodiversityresearch”

Grantagreementno.:654003

D4.2:Draftofapositionpaperforpolicymakersonthepotentialsolutionstoscientific,technicalandlegalinteroperabilityissues

Due-Date: 18 Actual Delivery: 20 Lead Partner: UAH Dissemination Level: PU Status: Final Version:

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D4.2 Draft of a position paper for policy makers Page2of20

DOCUMENTINFODateandversionno. Author Comments/Changes

05-01-2017V1 EnriqueAlonso DeliverableasfirstdraftforWorkshopend2017

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TABLEOFCONTENTS1 Executivesummary.........................................................................................................................42 Contributors...................................................................................................................................43 Report.............................................................................................................................................4

3.1 INTRODUCTION......................................................................................................................43.2 PROVIDINGFRAMEWORKS FORMAKINGAUTHORITATIVEDECISIONS FORTHEBUILDINGOFEACHSPECIFICEBV,SETSOFEBVSOREBVsINGENERAL.............................................................5

3.2.1 NeedofanauthoritativebodytosolveEBVdevelopmentsdilemmas?...........................73.2.2 NeedofanauthoritativesetofDataManagementPrinciples..........................................9

3.3 ENSURINGLEGALINTEROPERABILITYBYENDORSINGOPENDATAORDATATHATAREFREEFROMRESTRICTIONSONACCESS,USE,MODIFICATION,ANDSHARING..........................................10

3.3.1 Opendata........................................................................................................................103.3.2 Opensource....................................................................................................................15

3.4 PROVIDING A FRAMEWORK FOR MAKING AUTHORITATIVE DECISIONS ON MINIMUMREQUIREMENTS OF DATA POLICIES CONCERNING THE DATA TO BE USED IN BUILDING EBVPRODUCTS.........................................................................................................................................17

3.4.1 Shouldclosedorproprietarydatabe included inthecalculationofanEBV,andunderwhatconditions?..........................................................................................................................173.4.2 UsingdatafromproviderswithincompatibledatapoliciesandotherDataPoliciesneedswhen managing Big Data of biodiversity-relevant content through complex services orinfrastructures,includingcitizenscience......................................................................................18

4 Conclusions...................................................................................................................................19

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1 ExecutivesummaryEBV'sareofvital importancetoanumberofglobalpolicybodies.Thistasksaimsatafull 'two-waystreet'communicationlinebetweenthemajorglobalpolicybodies.Amajortoolisthedraftingofapositionpaper, containing themain recommendations fromtheconsortiumand theexperts in theworkshops,incl.scientific,technicalandlegaltopics.Tasksinvolvedare:• Exchangeinformationaboutprojectaimsandtherelatedpoliciesinthementionedbodies,and

identificationofcommongoals.• Communicate project outcomes as defined in Task 4.1, as well as the technical and scientific

resultsfromWP2andWP3.• Promote the draft and final policy position paper (D4.2, D4.3) and initiate discussions in the

mentionedpolicybodies toworktowardsachievingtheproposedsolutionsandagreements toimprovelegalinteroperability.

• Advice thementioned policy bodies on tentative ways forward,measures and agreements toundertake and identify follow up actions to be endorsed by these bodies as well as fundingbodiesinEuropeandtherestoftheworld.

GLOBIS-B intends to be a worthy consulting expert partner for these policy bodies and theconsortiumhastherequiredpersons,expertise,experienceandnetworktoactassuch.Theproject,withitsexpertsshouldactinthistaskasa'firestarter'forfullcooperationbetweenglobalresearchinfrastructures,theirscientificusersandthepolicybodiesmentioned.This deliverable acts as input to an intended extraworkshop that the projectwill organize in late2017andwilltargetpolicyrelatedorganizations,asmentionedintheDoA.Weneedtobringforwardthe issuesmentionedinthisdeliverableandotheroutcomesoftheworkshopstopromotetake-upandimplementationoftheseconclusions.Thedeliverablewillbefurtherdevelopedbythe'legalandpolicyteam'withintheGLOBIS-Bconsortiumtowardsafulldiscussiondocument,describingthecaseathand,thequestionsandissuesthatarise,thetopicstodiscussandthetargetedoutcomes.

2 ContributorsThis deliverable is written by the WP4 leader Enrique Alonso, based on the input in variousdocuments and discussions by the 'legal and policy team', consisting of: Paul Uhlir (RDA/CoData,USA), Anne Bowser (Wilson Center Washington, USA), Willy Egloff (Plazi, Switserland) and DonatAgosti(Plazi,Switzerland)

3 Report

3.1 INTRODUCTIONTheconceptofEssentialBiodiversityVariables(EBVs)wasintroducedtoharmonizeandstandardizebiodiversitydatafromdisparatesourcesforcapturingtheminimumsetofcriticalvariablesrequiredtostudy,reportandmanagebiodiversitychange.Scientificandtechnicalchallengesneedtobemetfor building global EBV data products even for the most “classic” EBVs1 with which biodiversityexperts (in particular, conservation biologists) are traditionally familiarized, such as ‘speciesdistribution’or‘populationabundance’2.1OnEBVs,seePereira,H.M.,Ferrier,S.,Walters,M.,Geller,G.N.,Jongman,R.H.G.,Scholes,R.J.,Bruford,M.W.,Brummitt,N.,Butchart,S.H.M.,Cardoso,A.C.,Coops,N.C.,Dulloo,E.,Faith,D.P.,Freyhof,J.,Gregory,R.D.,Heip,C.,Höft,R.,Hurtt,G.,Jetz,W.,Karp,D.S.,McGeoch,M.A.,Obura,D.,Onoda,Y.,Pettorelli,N.,Reyers,B.,Sayre,R.,Scharlemann,J.P.W.,Stuart,S.N.,Turak,E.,Walpole,M.&Wegmann,M.(2013)EssentialBiodiversityVariables.Science,339,277-27.2SeeDanielKisslingetal,Buildingessentialbiodiversityvariables(EBVs)ofspeciesdistributionandabundanceataglobalscale(pendingpublication).

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Thesechallengesimply,e.g.theneed(i)todeveloptoolsandmodelsforcombiningheterogeneous,multi-sourcedatasetsand fillingdatagaps ingeographic, temporaland taxonomiccoverage; (ii) tointegrate newmethods and technologies for data collection such as sensor networks, DNA-basedtechniques,andsatelliteremotesensing;(iii)tosolvemajortechnicalissuesrelatedtodataproductstructure, data storage, execution of workflows, and the production process/cycle as well asapproaching technical interoperability among research infrastructures, or (v) to achieve semanticinteroperabilitybyadoptingstandardsandtoolsforcapturingconsistentmetadata.Since all EBVs areproduced fromheterogeneous typesof data, suchas thoseprovidedbynaturalhistory collections, national and international monitoring programs, research surveys, or citizenscience initiatives, from the law & policy perspective the challenges include mainly three sets ofproblems:(1)providingframeworksformakingscientificandtechnicallysoundauthoritativedecisionsforthebuildingofEBVproducts;(2)ensuringlegalinteroperabilitybyendorsingopendataordatathatarefreefromrestrictionsonaccess,use,modification,andsharing;and(3) providing a framework for making authoritative decisions on minimum requirements of datapoliciesattachedtothedatausedinEBVproductsandtheproductsthemselvesalongtheworkflowsembedded in the continuum of the EBV production processes since a) individual researchers andteamsactasifdatawereproprietary,andtheuseofdataisnotnecessarilydesignatedasopen;b)there is a high possibility that EBV productsmay have to be built using data from providerswithincompatibledatapolicies(e.g.usingofdifferentdatasetsforthesamespeciesfromproviderswithdifferentdatapolicies)evenifintendedtobeopenandnonproprietary;andc)themereexistenceofdata,datasetsandotherderivativeproductsisbuiltonpracticesofBigDatamanagementtechniques(e.g.citizenscience)thatmaycreateotherconditionsorlegallimitationstotheiruseandre-use.This paper addresses these three different law & policy issues in order to elaborate a set ofrecommendationsforallactors,fromindividualscientiststoinstitutionsinvolvedintheprovisionofraw data to the EBVs products all along the continuum between primary data observations (‘rawdata’) and synthetic or derived indices (‘indicators’) to final products development for EBVscalculations.

3.2 PROVIDING FRAMEWORKS FOR MAKING AUTHORITATIVE DECISIONSFOR THEBUILDINGOF EACH SPECIFIC EBV, SETSOF EBVSOR EBVs INGENERAL

TheexistingliteratureonthemoredetailedanalysisofhowEBVscanbetransformedfromapurelytheoretical analysis3 to the real world of the science-policy interface, has proven that multipledecisionsneedtobetakenconcerningscientificandtechnicaldilemmas.[Suchscientificandtechnical(orboth)decisions,mostly,butnotinallcases,basedontheanalysisofthemostsimpleEBVs,wherebiodiversity informatics4haveasolidandreputabletraditionalready,3OnEBVs,seePereira,H.M.,Ferrier,S.,Walters,M.,Geller,G.N.,Jongman,R.H.G.,Scholes,R.J.,Bruford,M.W.,Brummitt,N.,Butchart,S.H.M.,Cardoso,A.C.,Coops,N.C.,Dulloo,E.,Faith,D.P.,Freyhof,J.,Gregory,R.D.,Heip,C.,Höft,R.,Hurtt,G.,Jetz,W.,Karp,D.S.,McGeoch,M.A.,Obura,D.,Onoda,Y.,Pettorelli,N.,Reyers,B.,Sayre,R.,Scharlemann,J.P.W.,Stuart,S.N.,Turak,E.,Walpole,M.&Wegmann,M.(2013)EssentialBiodiversityVariables.Science,339,277-27.4SeetheGlobalBiodiversityInformaticsOutlook(GBIO),http://www.gbif.org/resource/80859

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suchastheabovementionedEBVson‘speciesdistribution’or‘populationabundance’,canbeeasilyvisualizedbyfocusing,forexample,inthefollowingones,allofwhichnotwithstandingtheirscientificor technical nature are decisions that need common positioning or acknowledgement y two ormultipleactors:(i)definitionoftherequirementsofthekeydimensions,attributesanduncertaintyofEBV-useabledatasets,EBV-readydatasets,andderivedandmodeledEBVdata;(ii)agreementonmetadatatoexpresstaxonomy;(iii)selectionofasubsetoftheavailabledatawhenthatidealcannotbemet(i.e.minimumversusidealrequirementsthatcouldserveasabenchmarktoevaluatewhichexistingdatasetsareappropriateforbuildingEBVdataproducts); (iv)strategyonhowtodealwiththreatenedorflagshipspecieswhentherearestatutoryorinternationaltreaty-basedmandatessincethe EBV framework generally does not consider species individually due to its focus on acomprehensivedocumentationofbiodiversitychange;(iv)decisiononwhatsetofalgorithmswouldbe required to convert multiple data points into commonmeasurement units comparable acrossspace, time and taxonomy; (v) decisions on the admissible ratio of data uncertainties and ofuncertainties inmodels, and on the adequatemethods to account for uncertainty from differentsources inderived indicators; (vi) decisionson the integrationofdata froma large anddispersednumberofdataproviders,aswellascommonprotocolsforthecomplexpreparationandprocessingstepsoftheworkflows(orsetsofworkflows),suchasaggregationofvariousrawdatasources,dataquality control, and statisticalmodeling of integrated data; (vii) agreements on datamanagementpolicies; (ix) data coverage and fitness for purpose policies, in particular when EBVs are beinginterpolatedorextrapolated(e.g.,forgapfilling);(x)choiceofanappropriateanalyticaltool(e.g.,aspecific statistical model) and, if required, relevant covariates, and the decisions on furtherprocessing with specific analysis tools; (xi) decisions on how/where to publish the EBV dataproducts,therawdatasetsusedandtheassociatedmetadataaswellasthescripts,analyticaltoolsand software applied (e.g./i.e. including also dashboards with numbers and summary statistics,geospatial layers, maps and animations for occurrence and abundance predictions, predictiveperformancemetricsandpredictorimportanceinformationforthecovariatesthatwereusedinthemodels?);(xii)decisionsontheallocationofuniqueandpersistentidentifierstoeachdataproduct;(xiii) decisions on whether standard metadata approaches for derived and modelled EBV dataproductsshouldbe“officially”standardizedatthecontinental(e.g.ENsoftheEuropeanCommitteeforStandardization–CEN)ofworldlevel(ISOstandards),usw.]Thereseemstobeconsensus intheassertionthat,sincecombiningdifferenttypesofdata(e.g., inthe case of the above mentioned “easy” or “simple” EBVs, opportunistic population counts andpopulation time series, orpopulation time series fromdifferent sources) into the sameEBV isnottrivial, because each data type represents different sampling schemes, measurement units, andspatialandtemporalresolutions,itmightthereforebemorefeasible,andevenrecommendable,tocombinedifferentdatasetsthathavethesamedatatypeorthosecollectedforsimilarpurposes.ButthereisaveryseriousriskofmisrepresentingtherealityoftheEBVitself.Theworldisnotdigital,itisreal, and leaving aside valuable data implies a very serious policy decision too [(in particular forspecieswithintaxawhosediscovery,occurrence,abundance,distributionorstatusofbiodiversity–genetic, individual, population, range etc- are being evaluated using specific methodologies, forwhatever historical cause –mainly the specific type of research effort undergone in the past, thatcontribute to be used as emblematic for that species or set of species by the its core scientificcommunity)].Taking the listed dilemmas as an example, it is strongly recommended [OR NOT?] (1) that thereshould be some authoritative body to guide and sponsor [or even adopt] decisions, protocols,agreements,etcontheseissues;and(2)thatthesaidbodyshouldagreetoguide,sponsororadoptauthoritativepolicesondatamanagement.

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3.2.1 NeedofanauthoritativebodytosolveEBVdevelopmentsdilemmas?Concerning the first issue (authoritative body), certainly current institutions such asIntergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services - IPBES, theBiodiversity Indicators Partnership -BIP, GEO in general, and the Group on Earth BiodiversityObservationNetwork,GEOBON, in particular (since it has been the proposer of the developmentand endorsement of EBVs ), could legitimately play that role: any and all of them with theunavoidablecollaborationofGBIF,areadequate.Although the Convention on Biological Diversity –CBD- is slow in taking decisions concerningindicators [the unofficial list of 22 EBVs was proposed in the report of the 17th meeting of theSubsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical and Technological Advice (SBSTTA;UNEP/CBD/SBSTTA/17/INF/7), but the very recent Conference of the Parties (COP 13, held onDecember2016inCancún,México),whenadoptingDecisionXIII/28,on“IndicatorsfortheStrategicPlanforBiodiversity2011-2020andtheAichiBiodiversityTargets”noted(paragraph14)“theneedtourgently identify or develop indicators for those Aichi Biodiversity Targetswhich currently do nothave identified indicators” and, in particular (paragraph 15) “thatmany indicators rely on a smallnumber of essential biodiversity variables and that further efforts are required to improve themonitoringofthesevariables”].TheworkoftheLiaisonGroupofBiodiversity-relatedConventionshasnotreachedthatfar,though.Certainly the 50 GCOS Essential Climate Variables (ECVs), required to support the work of theUNFCCCandtheIPCC,shouldbethemodel5.But the same result can be achieved through decisions to collaborate if taken by e-scienceinfrastructures,suchasLifeWatch,andtheothernon-EuropeanRIspartnersintheGlobis-Bproject,althoughtheauthoritywillneverstemeasilyfromtheircurrentworkunlessamajoreffortisdonetoprovetheirefficiencyinspecificEBVsproduction6.On theother side, competition–versusdecisionsby anauthoritativebody-mightbe consideredabetterapproach.EBVsaresocomplexintheirdetaileddevelopmentthatallowingthescientificandcommunities and policy makers to provide products based on decisions freely taken by thedevelopersmightworkbetter.WhethertorecommendoneortheotherisaveryimportantstrategicissueandGEOBON,atleastasoftoday,seemstobeoptingforcompetitioninsteadofauthoritativedecision-making.ThereisatendencytoemphasizeEBVsdevelopment–atleastatthisstage-atthenationallevel(seee.g.NewSouthWales–Australia-,FranceorColombia),theexperienceof23yearsofexistenceoftheCBDand itsadditional regimes (biodiversity-based international fundingagenciesandbanks,UNEPLiasonGroup,BIP,GEFaboveallofthem…)showsthatthesystemneedsbothbottom-upandtop-downapproaches.Isthereamiddlegroundbetweenbothextremes?

5http://www.wmo.int/pages/prog/gcos/index.php?name=EssentialClimateVariables.6 See “Flock together with CReATIVE-B: A roadmap of global research datainfrastructures supporting biodiversity andecosystemscience”.SeealsoBackgroundon legal interoperability issuesforthe1stWorkshopinLeipzig,29February–2March2016

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In any case, approaching the issueof authority from thenational perspectivemightbeuseful andevenunavoidable7,butatthesametimeriskysince,oncetheeffortisdone,thecostofadjustingorhavingtomakesubstantivechangesonalreadytakendecisionsmightbetoohighoncetheresulthasledtotheconclusionthattherearealreadyenoughresourcestomeasurethemtheEBVsorthegapshave been identified and the investment done tomeasure them. Also national EBVsmight focusexcessivelyonitsownbioregionalanalysisandinparticularintheprioritizationofthemostrelevantEBVs (disregarding the importanceofothers?)whenanalysisof the stateofbiodiversity inagivenregion iswhat ispursued8,althoughthis ismoreanadvantageandopportunity (multiplepotentialuses of EBVs by local to national actors) than a disadvantage. In fact, even if EBV products arepursuedtargetingrealistic/minimumandnotidealEBVs(ideally,anEBVdataproductshouldcontainconsistent quantitative measurements or estimates across space and time, allowing a genuinecomparisonofchanges inspeciespopulationsover local,national, regionalandcontinentalextentsand from years to decades. of sampling programs, as well as legislative, social and politicalconstraints), it is unlikely that there will be an equal monitoring effort across taxa, eco- andbioregionsorjurisdictionalboundaries,asituationthatshouldbecarefullyevaluated.But thebottomline is that, althoughEBVs canand shouldbeuseful on specific targets for specificeco- or bioregions, cannot lead to deviations from themain goal: EBVs products should focus onglobaloutputs.Thus,themainproblemofplacingthemain“authority”atthenationalinsteadofthegloballevelisalso a half-technical as well as half-legal (and very possibly it needs a clear and standardizedadditionalpolicy):theabsoluteneedtobuildtheEBVproductsinawaythatworksatalllevelswiththesameefficiency.Themostclearexample–conceptuallyveryclosetoEBVproducts-aretheveryrecentdevelopmentsofgreeninfrastructures[seefigure1].Greeninfrastructuresasastrategyareuselessunlesstheyareoperativeatthesametimeandbyitsrespectiveconstituenciesattheurban/rurallevel[toensureconnectivityanalysis](eveninfra-local),atthelocal,provincial(county),regional(regions,Länderorstatesindecentralizedpoliticalregimes,departments in centralized ones), bioregional, national, supranational/regional, continental andgloballevels.

7seee.g.ErenTuraketal.Usingtheessentialbiodiversityvariablesframeworktomeasurebiodiversitychangeatnationalscale,http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2016.08.019)8Seealsoworkcitedinpreviousfootnote

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This operational capability is not only geographical but has also a time component: should thetechnicalproductioncycleofEBVsbeon-demand,on-the-flyproductionprocessthatrequiresreadyaccesstorelevantrawdata,theworkflowandprocessingcapacityatanytimeofinterestorshoulditratherconsistinaperiodicandsystematicproductionofEBVdataproducts(e.g.,annually)?Theanswertothisalternativemightbeneverthelesssolvedbytechnology:sinceitisclearthatinthefirst case the source data for computing EBV products comply with technical and semanticinteroperability standards (e.g., data format, metadata schema, Web services, controlledvocabularies) in order to allow constant and real-time machine translation and mapping ofalgorithms, annual production should not be very different (the ideal then being that wheneverrequiredthesupercomputersproducetheresult,updatedatthatprecisemoment).

3.2.2 NeedofanauthoritativesetofDataManagementPrinciplesConcerningthesecondissue,andalthoughthedifferentnatureofthedifferentEBVsmight leadtodifferent requirements for the management of the raw data and the different derived productswithin the continuum between primary data observations (‘raw data’) and synthetic or derivedindices (‘indicators’), the recent attempts to rationalize and globalize in a normative way theprinciples of datamanagement in the realmofGEO, through the 10DataManagement Principles(DMPs)9,isconsideredofessence,includingitsbranding(?)(seeFigure2)andtheneedtojustifyandmotivatedeviationsfromanyofthesaid10principles.

9https://www.earthobservations.org/documents/geo_xii/GEO-XII_10_Data%20Management%20Principles%20Implementation%20Guidelines.pdf

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WhatEBVscannotaffordtomiss,notwithstandingthattheyshouldnotbeconsideredcopyrightable(anissueaddressedinthenextsection),istheplanningonhowtomanagebetterdataproducts,thefartherderiveddataproductscreatedintheirproduction,suchasadistributionmodelforaspecies,multiple species, threat map etc.. These are new, unique products that need be stored, thatrepresent an added value, and are essential to build up a monitoring network. Monitoring is areference system to understand change and thus has to be built on previous analyses for whichidentifiersareamust(forexample,andasanequivalentofGBIFdata,itcouldjustbeaDOIreferringtoaparticulardataset,asubsetofGBIFrecords,usedtoinitiatetheanalysis).

3.3 ENSURING LEGAL INTEROPERABILITY BY ENDORSING OPEN DATA ORDATA THAT ARE FREE FROM RESTRICTIONS ON ACCESS, USE,MODIFICATION,ANDSHARING

Thedescriptionofthetypesofdata(rawdataanddatasets)andthetoolsneededfordataprocessingto ensure their standardization and harmonization as well as the data integration to be achievedthroughworkflowsinevitablyimplypotentialproblemsoflegalinteroperability.

3.3.1 OpendataLegalinteroperabilityissupported,where:-thelegaluseconditionsareclearlyandreadilydeterminableforeachdataset;-thelegaluseconditionsforeachdatasetallowforbothcreationanduseofcombined,orderivativeproducts;and,-userscanlegallyaccessanduseeachdatasetwithoutseekingauthorizationfromdatarightholdersonacase-by-casebasis10.

10Doldirina,Catherine,AnitaEisenstadt,HarlanOnsrud,PaulF.Uhlir.LegalApproachestotheOpenSharingofResearchData, pending publication, included also in the RDA-CODATA Legal interoperability of Research Data: Principles andImplementationGuidelines,https://zenodo.org/record/162241#.WG2JeWmDPMw

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Theuseofrawdatacanbelinkedtorestrictionsofallkind(e.g.privacy,nationalsecurity,proceduralrestrictionsetc.).Forpracticalreasons,itwillneverbepossibletotakeinconsiderationortorespectsuch restrictions linked to individual raw data when building EBV products or, in any case, suchindividualrestrictionslinkedtorawdatawouldmaketheuseofEBVproductsextremelydifficult, ifnot impossible. Soone recommendationmight consist if clearlyasserting that theuseof rawdatashouldthereforebeavoidedinwhichcaseEBVsshouldexclusivelybebasedonpublisheddatasets,thatfulfillaminimumstandardoflegalinteroperabilityqualityconditionsandaffidability.Neitherwill itbepossibletoapplyaneffectivequalitycontroltodatasetsonthelevelofEBVtoolsand workflows toward the building of the said products. That is why datasets must undergo aneffectivequalitycontrolintermsofitsusabilitybeforetheybecomeusefulAccesstodatasetsshouldbe,bydefault,openinordertoallowaggregationandre-use.And,inanycase,datathatis/becomesEBVsandispresentedassuchorasfartherderivativesshouldnever be copyrightable because they are standardized information, expressed in standardizedformats and languages. They lack formal originality/individuality and can/should therefore notqualifyasworksinthesenseofcopyright.Themost that couldbe considered is that restrictions shouldbepossibleonlywithinapredefinedframeofallowedexceptionssincethefewestrestrictionscontainedinparentdatasetsresultsinthefewestrestrictionsinderivativedatasetsandadditionalproducts,sincewhendatasetsarecombinedfrommultiplesources,theresultingdatasetwillincorporatetheaccumulatedrestrictionsimposedbyeachsource.If themainrecommendation is toavoid thiseffectandoperationwithdatasetsdoesnotsolve theproblem per se, certainly the simplest cases for tracking and legal interoperability occur whendatasetsareaffirmativelyidentifiedas“opendata”havingnolegalrestrictions,bythatmeaningthatdata, datasets and EBV products should be ‘findable, accessible, interoperable, or reusable’ (FAIRprinciple)11.Legal interoperability only occurs automatically when datasets have no restrictions on re-use. Incaseswhendatasetsareprotectedby intellectualproperty rights (IPRs),e.g., copyright laworE.U.databaseprotection,orwhendatasetshaveotherrestrictionsondataaccessandre-use,thenlegalinteroperability isconstrained.For instance,additionalrestrictionscancomefromnationalsecurityregulations, protection of endangered species, other types of confidentiality, and individual useagreements(e.g.,contracts,licenses,anddisclaimers).Inmanysituations,individualresearchersandteamsactasifdatawereproprietary,andtheuseofdataisnotnecessarilydesignatedasopen.Legalinteroperabilityremainsimpossiblewhendatasetsaremadeaccessibleonlyonacase-by-casebasisoriftheyarekeptsecret.Restrictionsondata access, use and sharing thereforehave severe consequences for building EBVdata products. For instance, including copyrighted or otherwise restricted raw data in EBV dataproducts can impede quality control, limit data aggregation and restrict re-usability. Building EBVdata products that involve proprietary data or sensitive data (e.g., because of threatened or

11WILKINSON,M. D., DUMONTIER,M., AALBERSBERG, I. J., APPLETON, G., AXTON,M., BAAK, A., BLOMBERG, N., BOITEN, J.-W., DA SILVASANTOS,L.B.,BOURNE,P.E.,BOUWMAN,J.,BROOKES,A.J.,CLARK,T.,CROSAS,M.,DILLO,I.,DUMON,O.,EDMUNDS,S.,EVELO,C.T.,FINKERS,R.,GONZALEZ-BELTRAN,A.,GRAY,A.J.G.,GROTH,P.,GOBLE,C.,GRETHE,J.S.,HERINGA,J.,’THOEN,P.A.C.,HOOFT,R.,KUHN,T.,KOK,R.,KOK,J.,LUSHER,S.J.,MARTONE,M.E.,MONS,A.,PACKER,A.L.,PERSSON,B.,ROCCA-SERRA,P.,ROOS,M.,VANSCHAIK,R.,SANSONE,S.-A.,SCHULTES, E., SENGSTAG, T., SLATER, T., STRAWN, G., SWERTZ, M. A., THOMPSON,M., VAN DER LEI, J., VANMULLIGEN, E., VELTEROP, J.,WAAGMEESTER,A.,WITTENBURG,P.,WOLSTENCROFT,K.,ZHAO,J.&MONS,B.(2016).TheFAIRGuidingPrinciplesforscientificdatamanagementandstewardship.ScientificData3,160018

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endangered species) could lead to situations where different results are produced for a singlespecies.Moreover, legal interoperability becomes a key issuewhen combining data frommultiple sourcesbecausethemostrestrictivelicenseofanincludeddatasetwilldictatethelicenseofthewholeEBVdata product.Hence, the ideal datasets for building EBVproducts are those in thepublic domain,withnorestrictionsonre-useandattribution(i.e.,theneedtospecifysourceandlicense).However,buildingEBVdataproductsonlywithopendatamay severely limit the relevanceof EBVs. Existinglegal mechanisms therefore need to be promoted and enforced to ensure open access and legalinteroperability12.The following table13 lists theexisting legalmechanisms topromote, from the top-downand fromthebottom-up,opendatafreefromreuserestrictions,andthusensuretheirlegalinteroperability.

12 RDA-CODATA Legal interoperability of Research Data: Principles and Implementation Guidelines,https://zenodo.org/record/162241#.WG2JeWmDPMw13Doldrinaetal,andRDA-CODATA,2016citedinpreviousfootnotes

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Datasetsbuiltupondatawhichisbeingcollectedinaccordancewithsuchmechanismsarecertainlytobe identifiedandprioritized,unlessqualityof the resultingEBVproductmightbeat riskdue togapsofdataoronitsreliability/credibilityduetocomparisonsbetweenscientificallybackedabsentdataandtheprioritizeddata.Inparticular,andintheabsenceoftop-downgovernmentalorinternationaltreatiesapproaches,oneofthemostefficientlegalapproachesthathelptoassurelegalinteroperabilityistheuseofcommon-uselicenses.Thebest-knownsetofcommon-uselicensesaretheCreativeCommons(CC) license14.Six CC licenses describe different conditions for re-use, and one designation (CC0) supports a full14 CARROLL, M. W. (2006). Creative commons and the new intermediaries. Michigan State Law Review 45, VillanovaLaw/PublicPolicyResearchPaperNo.2005-13

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waiver of copyright in favour of placing work in the public domain. When combining data frommultiple sources with different CC licenses, the resulting EBV data product will incorporate theaccumulatedrestrictionsimposedbyeachsourceofdata.Thus,ifonedatasetlicensedwithCC0(i.e.,placedinthepublicdomain)iscombinedwithdatalicensedasCCBY(i.e.,attributiononly)andalsocombinedwithdata licensedasCCBY-NC (i.e.withattributionandonly fornon-commercialuses),then the resultingEBVdataproductwill contain themost stringent license type (here,CCBY-NC).This is problematicbecause it limits the re-useof theEBVdataproductby imposing conditionsofattribution and non-commercial use. Moreover, two licenses are incompatible with each otherbecausetheydonotpermitmodification(seeTable).Table.CopyrightinCreativeCommons.Designationsareorderedfromleast-tomost-restrictive.Licensesymbol Licensename Description Compatiblewith

NoRightsReserved[CC0]

Copyrightholderchoosestooptoutofcopyright,placingworkinthepublicdomain.

Any

Attribution[CCBY]

Permitsaccessanduse;includingmodification;foranypurpose;withattribution.

Any

Attribution-ShareAlike[CCBY-SA]

Permitsaccessanduse;includingmodification;foranypurposes;withattribution.Allderivativeworksmustusethislicense.

CC0,CCBY

Attribution-NoDerivs[CCBY-ND]

Permitsaccessanduse;foranypurpose;withattribution.Doesnotpermitmodification.

None

Attribution-NonCommercial[CCBY-NC]

Permitsaccessanduse;includingmodification;withattribution.Doesnotpermitcommercialuse.

CC0,CCBY

Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike[CCBY-NC-SA]

Permitsaccessanduse;includingmodification;withattribution.Doesnotpermitcommercialuse.Allderivativeworksmustusethislicense.

CC0,CCBY,CCBY-NC

Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs[CCBY-NC-ND]

Permitsaccessanduse;withattribution.Doesnotpermitmodification;doesnotpermitcommercialuse.

None

Hence, the ideal datasets for building EBV products are those in the public domain, with norestrictionsonre-useandattribution(i.e., theneedtospecifysourceand license). Ifconditionsforre-usearelimitedtoattribution,theonlylegalrequirementwillbetoincludesufficientmetadatatoindicate the data source and the appropriate standardized license, if one is needed. TwoCreativeCommons (CC0 andCCBY) are recommended for designating opendata,while the remaining fiveimposerestrictionsonre-use.Internationaldatasharingprinciples,suchasthosefromtheGrouponEarth Observations15, endorse CC0 and CC BY licenses. It is recommended that this endorsementshouldbefollowedwhenbuildingEBVdataproductsinadditiontotheneedofEBVdataproducerstodecideaboutdatapoliciesconcerningdifferentdatasetsused.Nevertheless, this plain and straightforward recommendation is debatable. When looking at thelicensesindetail,afterthefirsttwolicenses(CC0andCCBY),eachintroducesrestrictionswhichhave15GEOSS,http://www.earthobservations.org/dswg.php

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complex interactions. CCBY-SA requiresCCBY-SAandnoother license tobeused for all derivedproducts–nothingmoreorlessrestrictive–thismeansthatanyderivativewhichdependsonCCBY-SAcanprobablynotalsodependonCCBY-NC since theNC restriction cannotbeadded.Theonlycase in which these might be compatible would be in cases in which the derived product issufficiently removedthat there isnoconcern thata secondarilyderivedproductwouldbeabusingtheNCaspect–but in that case,CCBY-NDandCCBY-NC-NDautomaticallybecome incompatible.Similarly,CCBY-NC-SAisabsolutelyincompatiblewithCCBY-SAandCCBY-ND.Oneofthecriticalissuesiswhetheradatasetthatsimplyaggregatesmultiplecompatiblystructureddatasets is a derived product or not. If it is a derived product (which seems the correctinterpretation),thenonecouldaddafourthcolumnwhichidentifiesthecompatibilityofeachlicensewithotherlicensesinthecontextofsuchaderivative.Thesecompatibilityissuesare,forexample,whatledGBIFtorecommendonlyCC0andCCBY,buttoacceptCCBY-NCasanecessityatthistime.

3.3.2 OpensourceDiscussionsonOpenAccess tend toavoid the issues raisedbyopennessof softwarewhich is alsoessentialforEBVproductssincetoolsandotherproducts(e.g.virtualresearchenvironments-VREs).Openness(versus“proprietary”orIPReddata)isnotonlyaqualityofdataanddatasets.It isalsoaquality applicable or not to the software needed to estimate EBVs and develop its products. Thefrequently cited BioVeL example16 (see Figure) has proven that legal interoperabilitymight not beachievablenotsomuchbecausethelackofopennessofdatabutbecauseofthelicensesthatcouldberequiredtomanipulatedifferenttypesofdatasets(e.g.georeferencingthroughGISmappingdueto the lack of free access, and other licensing conditions, attached tomost types of GIS softwarepackages).

16 See the CReATIVE-B Roadmap: “Flock together: A roadmap of global research data infrastructures” and supportingbiodiversityandecosystemscience”.SeealsoHARDISTY,A.R.,BACALL,F.,BEARD,N.,BALCÁZAR-VARGAS,M.-P.,BALECH,B.,BARCZA,Z.,BOURLAT,S.J.,DEGIOVANNI,R.,DEJONG,Y.,DELEO,F.,DOBOR,L.,DONVITO,G.,FELLOWS,D.,GUERRA,A.F.,FERREIRA,N.,FETYUKOVA,Y.,FOSSO,B.,GIDDY,J.,GOBLE,C.,GÜNTSCH,A.,HAINES,R.,ERNST,V.H.,HETTLING,H.,HIDY,D.,HORVÁTH,F.,ITTZÉS,D.,ITTZÉS,P.,JONES,A.,KOTTMANN,R.,KULAWIK,R.,LEIDENBERGER,S.,LYYTIKÄINEN-SAARENMAA,P.,MATHEW,C.,MORRISON,N.,NENADIC,A.,DELAHIDALGA,A.N.,OBST,M.,OOSTERMEIJER,G.,PAYMAL,E.,PESOLE,G.,PINTO,S.,POIGNÉ,A.,FERNANDEZ,F.Q.,SANTAMARIA,M.,SAARENMAA,H.,SIPOS,G., SYLLA,K.-H., TÄHTINEN,M.,VICARIO, S.,VOS,R.A.,WILLIAMS,A.R.&YILMAZ,P. (2016).BioVeL:avirtual laboratory fordataanalysis and modelling in biodiversity science and ecology. BMC Ecology 16, 49 (Hardisty 2016 + pkus citation of theCReATIVE-Broadmap

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Decisionsonopensoftware(FLOSlicensesandalike)andhowitfacilitatesaccesstodatasetsintheinput side of the workflows and later use of EBV products, in the output side, are of essence.Sometimestheestimationitselfofthevalueofrawdatais100%dependentonsuchsoftware(e.g.

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density estimation of cetaceans based on marine bioacoustics17, and other equivalentmethodologies) and others the usability is conditioned per se, as it happens with the GIS privatelicenses such as ESRI´s . Even if raw data is not considered, quality controls of the datasets couldheavilyrelyonreproducibilityofthemethodologiesusedtocreatetheinitialdatasets,whichmightbepossibleonlybyusingparticularsoftware,whichmightnotbeopensource.

3.4 PROVIDINGA FRAMEWORK FORMAKINGAUTHORITATIVEDECISIONSON MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS OF DATA POLICIES CONCERNING THEDATATOBEUSEDINBUILDINGEBVPRODUCTS.

Although the trend towards open data is increasing exponentially in the recent years, the timevariablemakes itnecessaryand realistic to confront thechoiceofhaving touseor reprocessdatawhichisnotnecessarilyopensinceindividualresearchersandteamsactasifdatawereproprietary.

3.4.1 Shouldclosedorproprietarydatabe included in thecalculationofanEBV,andunderwhatconditions?

Thereasonsforthelackofopennessandlegal interoperabilitymightnotbebasedsomuchontheopennessornotofthedatasetsbutonattributionofproprietaryqualities(versuspublicdomainorsimplenonsusceptibilityofdataownershiporintellectualrightsentitlements)ofthedataincludedinthe datasets or to the datasets themselves even though, as previously said, data that is/becomesEBVsandispresentedassuchorasfartherderivativesshouldneverbecopyrightableInordertoadequatelyaddressdecisionsonadmissionof“proprietary”or“owned”dataordatasetsmay imply the need to be capable of knowing where (e.g. which species, which types of data…)scientificcommunitiesmighthavehistoricaldatasetsormaycontinuedefactotooperateundersuch“it´smydatasyndrome”oequivalent“group”or“peer”policies,andbeabletoevaluatetheneedornotofcontributionofsuchdatasetsfortheaccurateestimationofspeciesabundanceordistribution.These decisions that should be taken by the EBV products´ developers is important from a law&policy standpoint because it is possible that some EBVs calculations might unavoidably require“proprietary data”. Certainly, unless necessary for final quality of the EBVs concerned proprietarydatasets (or includingproprietarydata) shouldbekept separately fromotherEBVdata inorder toavoidcontaminationeffectsorderivativedatasetsandproducts.Butevenifpoliciesof“ownership”ofdataarebeingaddressed,andallowed,creationofspecificallyEBVsorientedpoliciesontheseissuesshouldbeavoided.EBVcopyright/accesspoliciesneedtobeconsistentwithnationalfundingagenciesandpolicymakerneedsandadherenceof/endorsementbyEBVsproducersto/ofprinciplesorguidelinesthatarebeingdevelopedforthispurposeforalltypesofresearchdatashouldbeconsidered.Internationaleffortstofacilitatethecommonunderstandingof the issues involved in biodiversity-related “Big-Data” avoid outright acknowledgement of the“proprietaryhypothesis”evenifexceptionstotheopenaccessFAIRprinciplesareadmittedforthesakeofpreventingthelossofrelevantdata,thuspreventingdiscussionofthebasicsagainandagain.GEOBONsponsoredprinciplesDataSharingPrinciples18andRDA-CODATA“LegalinteroperabilityofResearch Data: Principles and Implementation Guidelines”19 should be observed and the issue ofproprietarydatamanagedwithpragmatismavoidingdiscussionoftheissueasaquestionofprincipleor“dogma”.

17Seee.g.LenThomasandTiagoA.Marques.Passiveacousticmonitoringforestimatinganimaldensity.AcousticsToday,Vol.8,Issue3,July201218https://www.earthobservations.org/geoss_dsp.shtml19https://zenodo.org/record/162241#.WG2JeWmDPMw

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3.4.2 Using data from providerswith incompatible data policies and other DataPolicies needs when managing Big Data of biodiversity-relevant contentthroughcomplexservicesorinfrastructures,includingcitizenscience.

A careful look to some examples of datasets analyzed for the purpose of developing theabovementioned “easy” EBVs on species populations has shown that most, if not all, datasetsprovidershave“DataPolicies”that,althoughpresentedasOpen,itmightnotbethecase.For example, the four projects that were analyzed for species population abundance anddistribution20 [(1) eBird (an online citizen science program collectingmassive information on birdspeciesdistributions,abundancesandtrends);(2)theTEAMnetwork(wildlifemonitoringsurveysofground-dwelling mammals and birds using camera traps in tropical forests); (3) the Living PlanetIndex (LPI) dataset (a collectionof over 18,500 time series records ofmore than 3,700 vertebratespecies worldwide); and (4) the Baltic Sea zooplankton monitoring (BALTIC) dataset (60,000abundancemeasurementsofmarinezooplanktoncollectedat26stationsfromthenationalplanktonmonitoringprogramsintheBalticregion)]havedifferentwaysof“openingtheirdata”toitspotentialusers(EBVproducersincluded,sincethereisnoexplicitexception).BothintheeBirdandTEAMdatasetsdataprovidersallowtheuseoftheirdatafornon-commercialpurposes; in the LPI dataset some rawdata publicly available, otherwise data sharing agreementsweresigned;andinthecaseoftheBalticprojectdataarefreelyavailablefromthedataaggregator,includingcommercialuse.Butproblemsarisewhenthedataincludedinthosedatasetsiscombinedwithdatasetsonthesameecosystemandspecies.Forexample,BalticseaplanktondataaccessandreusecapabilityfortheEBVproducerhavetorespectdifferentdatapoliciesifretrievedfromtheBalticproject21orfromtheso-called “Baltic SeaMesoplankton Project and Dataset”22;much of their data is the same but thesecondone is lessopen, so therearedifferent rules formanaging thesamedatabecause theEBVproducerhastoabidebydifferentdatapoliciesconcerninghowthesamedatacanbeused23.The need to tacklewith differentData Policies for different data (or even the sameor equivalentdata) isonlyoneof the reality checks thatexplainswhy complex services/products (i.e.VREs)andinfrastructures,aswellascitizenscienceorcrowdsourceddata,needtostrategizeclustersofpoliciestorationalizeEBVproduction.AlthoughtheinitialrecommendationthatEBVsstartbyusingdatasetsandnotrawdatacanleadtothe belief that most legal interoperability problems could be avoided, it is naïve to think thatconditions attached to data, other than proprietary or closed data, are not transmitted to thedatasetsandlatertotheworkflowsandEBVproducts.Onlyapreviousstrategytodeviseaclusterofadditionalpoliciesondatamanagementcanpreventtheseproblems.Onlytheanalysisoftheoriginofthedataandoftheconditionsattachedtotheprovisionofrawdatatothedatasetandadditionaluses of the later (maintained through the continuum) can determine if such policies should bestrategizedforspecificEBVs;andperhapsitmightbecomeunavoidabletotakedecisionsinacasebycasebasis24.

20DanielKisslingetal,Buildingessentialbiodiversityvariables(EBVs)ofspeciesdistributionandabundanceataglobalscale(pendingpublication).21http://sharkdata.se/22http://kodu.ut.ee/~riina82/23Besidesthat,andalthoughmuchofthedatausedinbothdatasetsisthesame,ontheBalticprojecttheeasternBalticdatawerenotincluded,andalsothequestionsandanalysisweredifferent.24 See Daniel Glazer, Henry Lebowitz & Jason Greenberg, Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver& Jacobson LLP and Practical LawIntellectualProperty&Technology.DataasIPandDataLicenseAgreements.PracticalLawCompany,2013

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Forexample,thepossibilitiesofferedbythecontinuousdevelopmentandadvancementof ITtechswhichallowforthefacilitationofEBVscalculations(e.g.re-processingofdigitaldata,extractingnewdatafromthesameoldsource25)mightbepreventedif/whenlimiteduseofthedataisdevisedfordatasets being collected and processed thinking in the calculation of EBV and for EBV productsnarrowly based in current technologies. And that may happen even though EBVs are viewed asenduringentitiesinsulatedfromchangingtechnologiesattheobservationlevel.Inparticular,citizenscienceprojectscanmakeaconsiderablecontributiontocollectingbiodiversitydataeven in thosecountries thathavecurrently the leastamountofdata26.Nevertheless,besidesthefactthatusabilityofcitizen-sciencedataintheEBVcontextmaybeconstrainedbydataqualityand the opportunistic way many of these data are collected, which implies that assuring theusefulness of citizen-science data for EBV data products requires careful design of data-input andmanagement procedures and recording of associated information such as sampling effort, speciesabsence and other data collection variables27, citizen science data may also require additionalcleaning to protect the privacy of volunteers, and additional metadata documentation to meetconditionsofattribution28.Onlythroughclearpoliciescanpreventthelegalconfusionwhichthreatenstoslowdatascience29.

4 Conclusions1.-ThetheoreticalframeworkandsubsequentapplicationsoftheEBVsisripeenoughtodecideifanauthoritativebodyshouldmakethebasicscientificandtechnologicaldecisionstosolvethedilemmasthat thebuildingof each EBVproduct entails; or todefinitively approach EBVsdevelopments as apurelyfreeresearchendeavor,byfocusingintheclimatemodel(ECVs)2.-EBVsshouldprovideanalyticsfortheiruseinalltime(asmuchaspossibleinrealtime)andspatialscales, and even become a useful tool for biodiversity conservation (in particular at the local andnationallevels)independentlyoftheirfunctionalityforthedevelopmentofindicators.3.- Data should abide by minimummanagement standards following the GEO DataManagementPrinciples(andtheirGuidelines)asmaybeeventhoughitsbrandishing,whichneedspolicydecisionstobeassumedbyallEBVproducerstothemaximumextentpossible.4.-Theideal, intermsoflegalinteroperability,wouldbetouseonlydataanddatasetswhichabidebytheFAIRPrinciple,followingtheRDA-CODATAPrinciplesandImplementationGuidelinesonLegal

25SeePrinciple9oftheGEODMPs,https://www.earthobservations.org/documents/geo_xii/GEO-XII_10_Data%20Management%20Principles%20Implementation%20Guidelines.pdf26AMANO,T.,LAMMING,J.D.L.&SUTHERLAND,W.J.(2016).Spatialgapsinglobalbiodiversityinformationandtheroleofcitizenscience.BioScience66,393-40027SEE ISAAC,N. J.B.&POCOCK,M. J.O. (2015).Biasand information inbiological records.Biological Journalof theLinneanSociety115,522-531;KELLING,S.,FINK,D.,LASORTE,F.A.,JOHNSTON,A.,BRUNS,N.E.&HOCHACHKA,W.M.(2015).Takinga‘BigData’approachtodataquality inacitizenscienceproject.Ambio44,601-611;orSULLIVAN,B.L.,AYCRIGG, J.L.,BARRY, J.H.,BONNEY, R. E., BRUNS,N., COOPER, C. B., DAMOULAS, T., DHONDT, A. A., DIETTERICH, T., FARNSWORTH, A., FINK, D., FITZPATRICK, J.W.,FREDERICKS, T., GERBRACHT, J., GOMES, C., HOCHACHKA,W.M., ILIFF,M. J., LAGOZE, C., LA SORTE, F. A.,MERRIFIELD,M.,MORRIS,W.,PHILLIPS, T. B., REYNOLDS,M., RODEWALD, A. D., ROSENBERG, K. V., TRAUTMANN, N.M.,WIGGINS, A.,WINKLER, D.W.,WONG,W.-K.,WOOD, C. L., YU, J. & KELLING, S. (2014). The eBird enterprise: An integrated approach to development and application ofcitizenscience.BiologicalConservation169,31-40.28 Anne Browser, AndreaWiggins& Robert D. Stevenson, Data Policies for Public Participation in Scientific Research: APrimer,DataOnePublicParticipationinScientificResearchWorkingGroup.DataONE,Albuquerque,NM.August2013.See,also, Quentin Groom, LaurenWeatherdon, and Ilse R. Geijzendorffer. Is citizen science an open science in the case ofbiodiversityobservations?JournalofAppliedEcology2016.doi:10.1111/1365-2664.1276729 Himmelstein. Legal confusion threatens to slow data science. Nature, Vol. 536, 16-17, 4 August 2016.doi:10.1038/536016a

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interoperability of Research Data. This needs also data policy decisions by th EBV producer (oragreementswith itsdataproviderandverypossiblyevenbywith theEBVuser). Evena “fairuse”exception might be considered for all EBV production and the use of published digitized data of¡relevantforEBVproduction.5.- Data that is/becomes EBVs and is presented as such or as farther derivatives should never becopyrightable because they are standardized information, expressed in standardized formats andlanguages.Theylackformaloriginality/individualityandcan/shouldthereforenotqualifyasworksinthesenseofcopyright.6.-CClicensesarestillsubjecttodebateandneedfartherclarification.7.-IssuesofOpensourcesoftwaretendtobeminimizedbytheOpenAccess/OpenSciencepolicieswhileitisobviousthatthelimitationsonfreeofchargeaccesstosoftware(aswellastodata,e.g.forsatelliteearthobservations)arestillveryimportant,inparticularinGIStoolsforgeoreferencingdataorwhereEBVsdataobservationis100%dependentonspecificlicensedsoftware,middleware,toolsorapps.8.-Notwithstandingtherecommendationtooperatemainly, ifnotexclusivelywithdatathatabideby the FAIR principle, pragmatismand even ensuringminimumquality of data used for EBVsmayjustifyadmitting“proprietary”claims,whichshouldbemanagednotaprincipledquestionbutwithclearmotivationandjustification.OncemorethispolicyhastobeexpressedclearlyandincorporatedintotheEBVproducerDataPolicy.9.-Evenwhenopendataisconsidered,thereareverydifferentwaysofallowingthirdparties(inthiscase,theEBVproducer)accesstothedatasincetheDataPoliciesofprovidersmayattachmultipleconditionstosuchuse,thuspreventingfartherfreereusabilityandevencorrectmanagementoftheDataanditsderivatives(theEBVproducts).10.-ItisnotunusualtohavethesamedataunderdifferentDataPolicieswhichcanbeonlyovercomeby choosing one data set (the one that guarantees more openness) but entailing the risks ofcontrollingerrorsandqualityongeneral.11.- Citizen science data cannot be considered equivalent to more official data mainly for tworeasons:qualitycontrolandprivacyconcerns(respectforthemotivationoftheprovidersofdatatothedataset).WhichmakesEBVproductsimpossible,oncemore,unlessaspecificclusterofpoliciesaddressingconditionsforcrowdsourcedisputinplacebytheEBVproducer.

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