FAQ answers
What is your main motivation for changing your licensing policy?
The new licensing strategy has been developed to grow the COSMIC project to
better encompass the range of genetic abnormalities underlying cancer and
to make these better available, integrated and analysable.
How much will a license for COSMIC cost my organisation annually?
Commercial organisations will be required to pay a fee for downloading the
database. The fee charged will depend on the organisation’s size and how the
organisation uses COSMIC. Additional fees may apply if an organisation
requires distribution rights to pass the database on as part of a product.
The license fee and structure are set at a level to facilitate adoption and
were devised after seeking early feedback from industry. License fees are
waived for industrial collaborators who are working closely with us toward
mutual developments.
If you require more information about collaborating with us, or the
commercial license fee and structure please contact:
cosmic-translation.
What’s the difference between looking at the data on the website and what
you get when you download the data?
The website visualises a set of high-value information, providing a
pre-defined series of analytical tools. The download files include more
extensive annotations across all datasets, available for exploration in any
custom analysis.
Will I be able to publish research, results and analysis obtained from using COSMIC?
Yes, we are very keen to support the publication of studies involving
COSMIC. We request that COSMIC is cited and we require that the broad data
files are not distributed. Ensuring the Sanger Institute remains the
distribution hub allows us to maximise the quality of data that everybody
sees.
What kinds of bespoke services are you offering to commercial users?
We will soon offer a range of custom services across COSMIC and its wider
bioinformatic environment, using the expertise we have developed to support
wider research. These custom services may range from literature curations
of bespoke targets, to re-evaluation of COSMIC datasets and integrated
analytics combining other resources.
Please contact us if you would like any further information about bespoke
services:
cosmic.
Has the Wellcome reduced the amount of funding it is giving to COSMIC?
Yes. As of July 2019, COSMIC no longer receives any funding from Wellcome
and we are now 100% funded from licence revenue.
What if our commercial organisation works with academia? Are we exempt?
Only commercial users that collaborate directly with the COSMIC team and
are partners in its development are exempt from fees. If your organisation
is interested in working collaboratively with COSMIC, please contact:
cosmic-translation.
I am an academic researcher and regularly download COSMIC. In practise,
what will change for me?
Very little will change for academic researchers; they will still have
access to all releases for free but they will be asked to agree to academic
use license terms, including provisions preventing further distribution of
the database.
I am a researcher in industry and regularly download COSMIC for our
internal Research and Development use. In practise, what will change for
me?
Ahead of downloading COSMIC files, commercial organisations will need to
sign a license agreement with the Sanger Institute, which includes an
annual fee. To obtain a license and for further information, please
contact:
cosmic-translation.