Présentation utilisée lors de la Conférence Citadel " Open Data par où commencer ?" qui s'est tenue à Issy-les-Moulineaux, le 5 Octobre 2012

1. Open data. Free or Fee?
William Gilles
Associate Professor at the Sorbonne Law school
Director of the Master of Digital Law (Public sector and Firms)
President of IMODEV
Email : william.gilles@imodev.org

2. 3 Questions on the Possibility of Charging or Not the Access
and the Re-use of the Public Sector Information
• What? The Concepts? The Scope
– We are going to speak about Open Data, Public Sector
Information, Free Access, Fee Access, Open Access.
• What are the common points and the differences?
• What data are concerned?
• Why? The Reasons
– Why could you have a Free or a Fee Access and Re-
Use of Public Sector Information?
• How? The modalities
– If local governments choose a Fee or a Free Access
and Re-Use, how can do develop their open data
policy.
William Gilles – Email : william.gilles@imodev.org
Issy-les-Moulineaux – 5th October 2012

3. What? The concepts.
• This conference speaks about Open Data but the European Directive
(2003) deals about Public Sector Information.
• Is Data a synonymous of Public Sector Information?
• When we wonder if we should have a free access or re-use, what data are
concerned?
– Private # Public data corresponds to all the information
produced, collected or paid by public bodies.
• For instance: geographical data, statistics, meteorological data, data from
publicly funded research projects, and digitalized books from libraries
– “Raw Data corresponds to quantities or other quantities or qualitative
attributes derives from observation, experiment, measurement or
computation. The data are not structured, contextualised or
commented”
Cf. J. Pénin (coord.), BETA
– “Information corresponds to a set of contextualised and structured
data, the producer’s intention being to make them meaningful”.
Cf. J. Pénin (coord.), BETA
William Gilles – Email : william.gilles@imodev.org
Issy-les-Moulineaux – 5th October 2012

4. What? The concepts.
• What can we call Open Data, Access and Re-Use?
– Access is not The Re-Use of Data:
According to the EU :
• “Access, under national freedom of information
regulations, is all about obtaining the information. The
Directive does not touch upon the existing access regimes in
Member States”.
• Free access or re-use is not synonym to “open
access or re-use”
• A paid access or re-use does not give all rights to
the one who accept to pay
William Gilles – Email : william.gilles@imodev.org
Issy-les-Moulineaux – 5th October 2012

5. What? The scope.
If we make something free or paid, what does it concern ?
• The question to make a free or paid access and re-use of data raise another one :
what is the legal framework?
– Indeed, local governements sould make money with their datas only if they have the right to
do that!
– Possibility for governement to make paid the re-use of data can be recet (cf. French example)
• There is no Open Data Legal framework itself. But we can refer to the PSI Directive
• of about Data that are ruled by the PSI Directive.
• But not all data are concerned by the 2003 PSI Directive.
• But the scope of application of the current Directive (of 2003) is restricted.
– For instance, are excluded from the scope of the PSI Directive of 2003 :
• Bodies of industrial or commercial character, e.g. public transport authorities;
• Educational and research establishments,
• Performing cultural institutions such as operas, ballets and theatres as well as public service
broadcasters, as there may be issues related to intellectual property rights.
– New possibilities should be offered with the revision of the Directive :
• New bodies such as libraries (including university libraries), museums and archives
• Limitation of fees
William Gilles – Email : william.gilles@imodev.org
Issy-les-Moulineaux – 5th October 2012

6. Why? The Reasons : Free or Fees?
• Why should we have a Free Access and Re-Use of
Public Sector Information?
– No doubt to make a Free Access.
• According to me, the question of Fee concerns only the re-
use of data, not the access.
• Transparency
– Question is about the re-use even in if this case, the
free re-use should be the rule according to advantages
• Development of the economy
• New public services
William Gilles – Email : william.gilles@imodev.org
Issy-les-Moulineaux – 5th October 2012

7. Why? The Reasons : Free of Fees?
• Why could we have a Fee Re-Use of Public
Sector Information?
– Nothing is free !
• Better to say : No Fee re-use
• To say that it has already paid by taxes is not a good
argument. Prefer to say that
• Possibility for local government to earn money and
optimize their intangible assets
– But fee can also have disadvantage and be a
barrier to the development of the digital economy
William Gilles – Email : william.gilles@imodev.org
Issy-les-Moulineaux – 5th October 2012

8. How? Modalities of Data Access and Re-
use: Free or Fees?
• If there is fees, how could we do to prevent
barriers in the deployment of the open data
policy?
• Another question is also who?
– Can we make a distinction between Re-Users?
William Gilles – Email : william.gilles@imodev.org
Issy-les-Moulineaux – 5th October 2012