Information and Knowledge Management for Climate Change (IKM4CC) Guideline 5: Copyright, Legal and Ethical Issues

This guideline is part of the Information and Knowledge Management for Climate Change (IKM4CC) Guidelines.  The purpose of the Guidelines is to help government departments, and other agencies and organisations that deal with issues related to climate change in the Pacific region, to implement good practices for managing information. They have been developed in consultation with representatives from government departments, NGOs and regional organisations based in the Pacific.

This guideline looks at legal and ethical issues that need to be considered and addressed before data and information can be publically shared. It examines the concepts of privacy, confidentiality and consent, environmentally sensitive information and traditional knowledge. It explains the concept of copyright and examines the increasingly common use of “open licensing” and Creative Commons licences as a way of increasing people’s ability to share and reuse information protected by copyright. It provides examples of Creative Commons licence markings, website disclaimers and privacy policies.

The Guidelines were produced by the Griffith University Pacific iCLIM Project. Griffith University was funded by the Australian Government Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade initiative Government Partnerships for Development Program to support SPREP in implementing a regional approach to climate change data and information management throughout the Pacific.

The complete set of Guidelines can be viewed here.