1twitter.com/openminted_eu
Giulia Dore, University of 
Glasgow 
FORCE2017
To be, or not to be, 
compatible?
 The licence interoperability 
dilemma in a TDM world
2The legal constraints in a 
TDM worldLegal barriers to Text and data mining (TDM) 
Not only IPRs but also licence agreements 
Resources you wish to mine could be protected by 
the law, including but not limited to copyright, sui 
generis database right and contracts
Hence, either you get a permission to TDM, 
usually by means of a licence or you can benefit 
from a copyright exception
However, (additional) contractual limitations 
to TDM (e.g. for non-commercial purpose only) 
may apply
3Sturdy IPRS restraintsCopyright law
If reproduction of resources protected by 
copyright is implied in the TDM process, it should 
be authorised by the right holder
Sui generis database (SGDB) rights 
Extraction and re- use of all or substantial parts 
of a protected DB (made with substantial 
investment in obtaining, verifying or presenting 
contents) and reiterated extraction/re-use of 
insubstantial parts needs to be authorised by the 
DB owner
Exceptions
A fragmented range but a plan for a dedicated 
TDM exception in the EU (Art. 5 Directive 
2001/29/EC) and few good (not perfect) national 
MS examples (e.g. UK CDPA 1988, s. 29A)
4Contractual confusionWhen the right holder authorisation is 
required to perform otherwise restricted acts on 
protected resources, license agreements are 
often the means to facilitate it, although 
proliferation of different licensing schemes may 
even counteract it
Lack of clarity and standardisation of 
licensing terms, in fact inevitably leads to 
inconsistency and incompatibility of such 
terms
Recommending some more standardised 
licences, such as Open Access (OA) public 
licenses (PL), may help contrasting the 
phenomenon, but it is not enough  
5The 
Compatibility/Interoperability 
DilemmaLicence compatibility - The condition or state in which ore licenses can co-exist and licensed 
resources be combined Licence 
interoperability - The capability of a license to 
function, interact or otherwise operate with 
other licenses.
In the TDM world, disinformation on and 
customisation of (poorly drafted) licences 
is one of the main problem
Combination of TDM resources under different 
and clashing terms is made extremely difficult, if 
not impossible, if:
License choice/selection is complex or absent;
License interaction is partial or otherwise limited.
6What OpenMinTeD does for 
interoperabilityLicense incompatibility represents a 
tangible legal barrier for TDM as it makes 
effective and interoperable use of resources 
through TDM extremely limited
Through its WG3 Working group on IPRs and 
licensing,  OPMT analyses the legal barriers 
to TDM and identifies the legal tools to support 
TDM activities and services, focusing on two 
main aspects:
Legislation, supporting adequate (EU and 
national) legislative intervention to foster TDM, 
and Licensing, recommending the most 
suitable licenses, but also designing and 
promoting specific compatibility tools.
7The Compatibility matrix (beta version)
.
The aim of the Matrix is to provide guidance 
to users wishing to undertake TDM activities 
and overcome the ambiguity of the current 
setting.
The Matrix, considered (a) the resource/s 
and (b) the license/s used, helps determining 
(c) whether there is compatibility or not. 
It should also help you share/distribute your 
resources under the appropriate license, 
providing an understanding of the legal 
implications of choosing one or the other. 
Remember, no licence means “all rights 
reserved”.
8The Compatibility matrix (extract)
.
9The Compatibility matrix: how it works
The Matrix assesses the possibility that the 
resources (content or software) licensed under 
the licences considered may be combined and 
their combination feasibly result in a 
derivative work. The matrix also assesses 
whether, considering specific clauses (e.g. NC 
or SA), there is likely to be a conflict of 
licensing terms. 
A green Yes (full compatibility) when licensing 
terms allow derivative works and no further 
restrictions apply 
A yellow Yes (compatibility under some 
conditions) when for derivative works to be 
allowed some restrictions apply
A red No (no compatibility) when derivative 
works are not allowed in any case
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The Compatibility matrix: disclaimer
The Beta version of the Compatibility matrix 
is undergoing final testing before its official 
release.
It should not be regarded as giving legal 
advice.
The scope of the Beta version is to obtain 
feedbacks: comments or suggestions can be 
made by accessing the linked documents in 
the matrix and via a questionnaire. We want 
your help!
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Thank you
Any questions?
giulia.dore@glasgow.ac.uk
Presentation licensed under Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) 
4.0
See full terms at https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode