Legal topics
Legal issues often play a critical role in research data management: besides questions about licenses and copyright law the correct handling of personal data often needs to be clarified in research projects.
German copyright act
Any work that can be regarded as an individual intellectual creation is protected by copyright law in Germany. Therefore, before publishing research data, make sure that there are no copyright restrictions.
Moreover, rights of use can also be defined by the granting of licenses.
In the humanities, social sciences and cultural studies, Paul Klimpel and John H. Weitzmann have published some helpful handouts about the core topics of the german copyright act:
Patents
In case of questions about patents, software protection and innovation, please contact the Research Transfer Office at the University of Münster.
You can also find information on marketing your inventions and patents on the website of the patent exploitation agency PROvendis:
"From idea to success: How to protect and market your inventions & research results"
Protection of data privacy
If your research data contains sensitive data, you may protect this data, e.g. by restricting access via password protection, encryption or anonymization/depersonalization (e.g. for surveys and interviews).
If you have any questions on this topic, please contact the Data Protection Office and the IT Security Office at the University of Münster.