  Molecular biology data are subject to terms of use that vary widely between
databases and curating institutions. This research presents a taxonomy of
contractual and technical restrictions applicable to databases in life science.
It builds upon research led by Science Commons demonstrating why open data and
the freedom to integrate facilitate innovation and how this openness can be
achieved. The taxonomy describes technical and legal restrictions applicable to
life science databases, and its metadata have been used to assess terms of use
of databases hosted by Life Science Resource Name (LSRN) Schema. While a few
public domain policies are standardized, most terms of use are not harmonized,
difficult to understand and impose controls that prevent others from
effectively reusing data. Identifying a small number of restrictions allows one
to quickly appreciate which databases are open. A checklist for data openness
is proposed in order to assist database curators who wish to make their data
more open to make sure they do so.
