Recently, the restrictions on data that 
have been initiated by a number of 
European countries (in part to protect 
their commercial activities to achieve 
cost recovery) have been viewed by 
many in the U.S. scientific establishment 
as a direct threat to the principle of free 
and open access to data. The 
overwhelming U.S. opposition to the Two- 
Tier proposal (to initiate restrictions on 
certain kinds of meteorological data) at 
the WMO Twelfth Congress has been the 
most visible example of this, as this was 
seen as a direct attack on free exchange 
of meteorological data, and one that could 
lead to “trade wars” between countries 
over data. 
It must also be noted that in the U.S, a 
distinction has long been made when 
applying the principle of free and open 
access between meteorological and non- 
meteorological kinds of data. For 
example, NASA has in the past charged 
large fees for foreign access to Landsat 
data. 
This is most probably not the last time the 
viability of the principle will be debated. 
Copyright of Remote Sensing Data. 
This issue, perhaps more than any other, 
highlights major differences between 
U.S. and European legal structures for 
remote sensing data. It is integral to any 
debate on international agreements on 
data sharing, or cost recovery policies. 
In most European nations, and indeed in 
the majority of countries worldwide, 
governments have the ability to 
copyright products and data and thus 
claim exclusive proprietary right. The 
major European remote sensing 
countries have clearly asserted their 
right to copyright government 
generated data, including France, the 
UK. and Germany. This gives these 
countries a clear legal foundation for 
charging fees‘ *for © access “to their 
remotely sensed data. 
The U.S., however, has a dramatically 
different policy regarding copyright of 
remotely sensed data, and indeed all 
government generated information. 
Federal U.S. law statutes prevent the U.S 
44 
government from .copyrighting 
information that it generates (partly to 
avoid potential conflict with the 1st 
Amendment to the US. Constitution 
which guarantees the right of free 
speech). Also, current interpretations of 
the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) 
are that data in the possession of the U.S. 
government must be made available to 
any requester at the cost of reproduction. 
Thus, there is no legal basis in the U.S. 
for a market-based pricing policy to be 
imposed or enforced. 
Both copyright and the principle of free 
and open access to data are issues that 
have figured largely during 
disagreements in the on-going 
negotiations between the U.S. and 
Eumetsat over Eumetsat sharing of data 
with the US. from meteorological 
satellites. Eumetsat has claimed the right 
to certain types of data from the satellites 
- based partly on a legal proprietary 
claim to the data - but has agreed to 
provide the U.S. with decoder machines. 
Currently, a debate has arisen over U.S. 
access to data from U.S. sensors riding on 
Eumetsat satellite carriers. The U.S. 
claims free access to the data because of 
its ownership of the sensors, while 
Eumetsat claims the right to encrypt the 
data because the sensors ride on its 
Similar negotiations are also 
the U.S. and India 
Indian IRS 
carriers. 
occurring between 
over access to data from 
satellites. 
What is the Role of Government? 
Underlying any plans to implement cost 
recovery processes on the part of 
government data collection agencies is 
the question of what kinds of data should 
governments be responsible for 
gathering? If a meteorological service is 
completely privatized, for example, will it 
only gather data for which there is a 
commercial market? What about the 
gathering of long-term ecological or 
meteorological data sets, which the 
international scientific community 
increasingly agrees is badly needed? 
Will a market-driven mechanism support 
such data collection? 
International Archives of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing. Vol. XXXI, Part B6. Vienna 1996 
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