A project's database
Who owns data from a research project in the UK and US
Updated
A project's measurements are rarely protected as copyright, but the database built from them may be. Who made it, and who paid, decides who can license it.
The database right goes to the maker
A database right subsists where there has been a substantial investment in obtaining, verifying or presenting a database's contents (SI 1997/3032, regulation 13). Regulation 14 names the maker as the person who takes the initiative and assumes the risk of that investment, and an employer is the maker of a database an employee makes in the course of employment.
Source: Copyright and Rights in Databases Regulations 1997, regulation 14
A funder can expect the data to be shared
UKRI's policy is that publicly funded research data should be made openly available with as few restrictions as possible, in a timely and responsible manner. A dataset already promised open under a grant is a different thing to sell from one a company paid for itself.
Source: UKRI, making your research data open
For a US grant the starting point is the same federal award rule: title vests in the recipient, with the agency's licence for federal purposes reserved. Read the award's own terms beside it.
Source: 2 CFR 200.315
Once ownership is clear, the next question is the platform the records sit on: see lab notebook data export after cancellation.