Brenda van der Wal graduated in Dutch Law from the University of Amsterdam in 2006, having specialised in intellectual property law. Her final paper was on the position of spare parts in the different areas of intellectual property and was written in response to the introduction of the repair clause in Dutch and European design law. After graduating, she worked at IViR as an intern for six months. 

Brenda was a junior researcher at IViR and was working on Creative Commons issues. She was also an editor of the Kluwer European Copyright Case Law service. Currently she is working for the Ministry of Economic Affairs in The Hague.

(with M.M.M. van Eechoud) Creative commons licensing for public sector information: Opportunities and pitfalls, Institute for Information Law, 2007.

The Creative Commons model seems an attractice instrument for public sector bodies that seek to enhance transparent access to their information, be it for purposes of democratic accountability or re-use for economic or other uses. This study examined that hypothesis and highlights the major opportunities and pitfalls of the Creative Commons model for public sector information. It assesses where there is a match between the creative commons model and the principles of freedom of information law and the Public Sector Information Directive (EC Directive 2003/98 on the re-use of public sector information) as implemented in the new chapter V-A of the Dutch Freedom of Information Act (Wet Openbaarheid van Bestuur). The assessment was made not only at the more principled, abstract level, but also at the level of the individual licensing terms. It is preceded by an analysis of government information as subject of intellectual property rights, under the Dutch Copyright Act and the Database Act.

21.12.2007

Updated 19.02.2008