Explained
Article 179 of Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union states that the Union shall strive to achieve a European Research Area in which researchers, scientific knowledge and technology circulate freely. An adequate copyright and data legislation is a key enabler of knowledge circulation in the European Research Area as it sets the conditions that impact the protection and dissemination of research results and the conditions for access to and reuse of publications and data for research.
Action 2 of the ERA Policy Agenda 2022-2024 is an open science initiative aiming to propose an EU copyright and data legislative and regulatory framework fit for research, i.e., a framework that enables access to and reuse of publicly funded research results and use of publications and data for scientific purposes.
In this way, the Action contributes to the objective of deepening a truly functioning internal market for knowledge. It does so in connection with the other ERA Actions on open science, including Action 1 on the European Open Science Cloud, Action 3 on research assessment, and Action 8 on research infrastructures.
Whereas these actions provide the infrastructure and assessment system to facilitate open science, ERA Action 2 seeks to address the legal barriers for researchers to access and reuse publicly funded research results and making results available in open access.
Horizon Europe-funded projects and studies are essential for the implementation of ERA Action 2 since evidence is needed to support policy measures and training material is necessary to facilitate intellectual property (IP) capacity building at research organisations. Horizon Europe has funded several studies addressing EU copyright, reuse of research results, publications and data, and the impact of major legislative instruments for the field of research. Horizon Europe has also funded projects regarding IP management and open access publishing. These include awareness-raising campaigns, training materials, workshops and dissemination of best practices to enhance uptake of open science practice across research performing organisations in Europe.
More studies and projects will follow in the coming years to further support informed decision making on issues related to EU copyright and data legislative framework for research.
On this page, you will find more information on the studies, stakeholder consultation and call topics related to EU copyright and data legislative framework for research.
Resources and tools
Improving access to and reuse of research results, publications and data for scientific purposes
The study evaluates the effects of the EU copyright framework on research and the effects of potential interventions and to identify and present relevant provisions for research in EU data and digital legislation, with a focus on rights and obligations.
EU copyright and related rights and access to and reuse of scientific publications, including open access
The study analyses the role that EU copyright rules play in enabling or hindering access to and re-use of scientific publications, including through Open Access.
EU copyright and related rights and access to and reuse of data
The study analyses the interaction between copyright and related rights law and data access and reuse for scientific research purposes. It proposes legislative and non-legislative measures to improve the current EU regulatory framework.
Open Data Directive, Data Governance and Data Act and their possible impact on research
The study analyses the possible impact of three major legislative instruments in the European Strategy for data (the Open Data Directive, the Data Governance Act and the proposed Data Act) for the field of research, especially for research performing organisations and research funding organisations.
The Digital Services Act and Digital Markets Act and their possible impact on research
The study provides an analysis of the possible impact of the proposed Digital Services Act and the proposed Digital Markets Act on research and research stakeholders’ operations and provides recommendations on how to make the legislative instruments and their implementation better adapted for researchers.
Explore Horizon Europe projects
Work Programme 2023-2025
HORIZON-WIDERA-2024-ERA-01-08: Global cooperation in not-for-profit open access publishing