Preamble

The Diversity of the Indo-Pacific Network is a US National Science Foundation funded research project without commercial goals of any kind and with the following objectives:

• To advance genetic diversity research in the tropical Indian and Pacific Oceans.
• To aggregate published population genetic data in raw formats in a searchable database such that original datasets can be utilized for further investigation.
• To promote and advocate open and collaborative science as a best practice for conducting biodiversity research
• To promote and provide capacity-building within developing countries for monitoring, study and protection of their biodiversity resources.

Recalling that access to and utilization of genetic resources and data taken from the marine internal waters, territorial sea, exclusive economic zone or continental shelf of coastal states should be consistent with the provisions of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) taking into account their specifications by the Bonn Guidelines on Access to Genetic Resources and the Fair and Equitable Sharing of Benefits arising from their Utilization, and, where appropriate, the Nagoya Protocol on Access to Genetic Resources and the Fair and Equitable Sharing of Benefits arising from their Utilization (NP),

Recalling that according to these provisions non-monetary and/or monetary benefits from the utilization of the genetic resources shall be shared with the Country of Origin if the same so requires and as it is set out in mutually agreed terms,

Acknowledging that research and development on genetic resources can be for the public domain (non-commercial) or for commercial purposes and,

Recalling that according to these provisions, non-commercial research purposes may contribute to the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity

By uploading data to or downloading data from the DIPnet database, DIPnet contributors and Recipients of DIPnet data agree as follows:

Article 1 – Uploading of legal and accurate Genetic Data and Associated Metadata

1.1 By uploading Genetic Data and associated metadata to the DIPnet database, DIPnet Contributors certify the following:

1.1.1 That the Genetic Resources from which Genetic Data and Associated Metadata were derived were collected under appropriate and legal access permits or their equivalent by each Country of Origin and that the data contributor can provide their copies upon request.

1.1.2 That all co-authors on the data’s primary publication have consented to share the data into the DIPnet database.

1.1.3 That the Genetic Data have undergone minimal quality screening to ensure that the submitted nucleotide sequences originate from the species to which they are attributed and that all nucleotide bases have less than 1 in 100 probability of being incorrectly called (Phred score greater than Q20).

1.1.4 That the DIPnet contributor has acted in good faith to provide all relevant and accurate metadata describing geographical, taxonomic and ecological circumstances of the sampled genetic data.

Article 2 – Usage of downloaded Genetic Data and Associated Metadata

2.1 The Recipient shall be entitled to the Use of the Genetic Data and Associated Metadata for the Public Domain.

2.2 Should the Recipient intend to utilize the Genetic Data and Associated Metadata for Commercial Purposes they will seek consent of the Country of Origin, subject to the mutually agreed terms between the DIPnet contributor and Country of Origin.

2.3 When used for Commercial Purposes or in the Public Domain, Genetic Data and Associated Metadata should be recognized as follows:

“Data were made available through DIPnet, a project funded by the US National Science Foundation, NSF #1457848”.

2.4 Every attempt should be made to cite the original studies having contributed data to the new analyses. Attribution would include any publications first describing these data as well as reference to electronic depositions (such as DOI associated with dataDryad). This information may often be found in the “associatedReferences” field of the database.

2.5 The Recipient may transfer downloaded Genetic Data and Associated Metadata to Subsequent Recipients provided that Subsequent Recipients agree in writing to use the data under the terms of this agreement.

2.6 DIPnet does not undertake to monitor the rights of any Country of Origin for their Genetic Resources downstream from our database portal.

Appendix A – Use of terms

Associated Metadata – means data that describe the biological context or origin of the Genetic Data.

Country of Origin – means the coastal state from whose marine internal waters, territorial sea, exclusive economic zone or continental shelf genetic resources were collected.

DIPnet contributor – means any person who has agreed in writing to the DIPnet guidelines for participation and has uploaded Genetic Data and/or Associated Metadata to the DIPnet database.

Genetic resources – means any material of plant, animal, microbial or other origin containing functional units of heredity.

Genetic data – means any experimental or observational data, information and other findings on the DNA or RNA composition of the genetic resources.

Recipient – means any person, institution or corporation who has downloaded Genetic Data and Associated Metadata from the DIPnet database.

Subsequent Recipient – means any person or institution other than the Recipient or DIPnet Contributor who receives data stored in the DIPnet database. Subsequent recipients do not receive data directly from DIPnet.

Use for commercial purposes – means research and development that aims at protecting the Genetic Data and Associated Metadata, including derivative products and processes developed, by copyright or patent rights, and making the Genetic Data and Associated accessible at more than incremental costs for dissemination and/or bringing the products and processes developed from the Genetic Data and Associated Metadata on the market.

Use for the public domain purposes – means research and development that aims at making the Genetic Data and Associated Metadata, including products and processes developed, publicly available at no more than incremental costs for dissemination, and without being protected by patent rights or further restricted by other intellectual property rights.

*Authored by Dr. Eric Crandall in consultation with Dr. Evanson Chege Kamau (LL.M) and with language adapted from the MicroB3 Agreement on Access to Marine Microorganisms and Benefit Sharing.