Selecting a Data License
Which License Should I Apply to My
Data?
Which license should I select?
It is always a good idea to select a license which is commonly used.
This helps to ensure the maximum re-usability of your work. If your
discipline usually uses a specific license, then you should strongly
consider it as well.
Public Domain ‘licenses’ are actually waivers that remove
the copyright and related rights to your content. They place your
data into the open for anyone to use as they wish, with no
restrictions, and no attribution requirement.
There are three main providers for data licenses: Creative
Commons, Open Data Commons, and GNU. They each have
specific strengths, and are intended for different data formats.
2
Creative Commons
Creative Commons licenses are the best choice for most all of your
content. All CC licenses require attribution.
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/
•CC BY: Allows others to distribute, remix, tweak, and build on your
work, even commercially.
•CC BY-SA: Allows others to distribute, remix, tweak, and build on
your work, even commercially, and they must license their new
creations under the same terms.
•CC BY-ND: Allows for redistribution, commercial or noncommercial use, but they can’t change the work.
3
Creative Commons
CC BY-NC: Allows others to distribute, remix, tweak, and build on
your work, even non-commercially. Their new works must be noncommercial, but they can license them under different terms.
CC BY-NC-SA: Allows others to distribute, remix, tweak, and build
on your work, non-commercially, and they must license their new
creations under the same terms.
CC BY-NC-ND: Others can only download and share your works.
The Creative Commons Zero (CC0) is a public domain dedication
which can be used if you wish to permanently surrender your
copyright and related rights to your work, with no attribution. It can
be used for all types of content. http://creativecommons.org/about/cc0
4
Open Data Commons
Open Database License (ODbL): Anyone is free to copy, distribute,
use, create new works from, modify, build upon or transform the
data or database. They must attribute you as specified in the
license, offer any new work under the same terms, and release a
public copy if using the new work for commercial purposes.
http://opendatacommons.org/licenses/odbl/
ODC Database Contents License (DbCL): You waive all rights to the
individual contents of a database licensed under the ODbL. This
license protects your rights to the design of a database, and waives
all rights to the data in the database.
http://opendatacommons.org/licenses/dbcl/
5
Open Data Commons
ODC Attribution License: Anyone is free to copy, distribute, use,
create new works from, modify, build upon or transform the data
or database. They must attribute you as specified in the license.
They can release new work under any terms, but must keep intact
any notices on the original data or database.
http://opendatacommons.org/licenses/by/
ODC Public Domain Dedication and License (PDDL): This places the
data or database in the public domain by waiving all your rights. No
attribution. http://opendatacommons.org/licenses/pddl/
6
GNU licenses for software, code & scripts
The GNU General Public License (GPLv3) is the most commonly
used license for software packages.
http://www.gnu.org/licenses/quick-guide-gplv3.html
The GNU Lesser General Public License (LGPL) is for software
libraries used in proprietary programs. Use the GPL for free
programs. http://www.gnu.org/licenses/lgpl.html
The GNU Affero General Public License (AGPL) is for software that
primarily runs on servers or over a network, allowing users access
to the source code. http://www.gnu.org/licenses/agpl.html
Information about these and the other GNU licenses can be found
at http://www.gnu.org/licenses/licenses.html
7
GNU license for manuals & documentation
GNU Free Documentation License (FDL) is for manuals, textbooks,
or other functional documents and allows others to copy and
redistribute, with or without modifications, either commercially or
non-commercially. http://www.gnu.org/licenses/fdl.html
GNU has a comprehensive list of licenses at
http://www.gnu.org/licenses/license-list.html#OtherLicenses
A good introduction to open source licensing and how the proper
selection relates to copyright and intellectual property concerns can
be found at the OSS Watch website
http://oss-watch.ac.uk/resources/licdiff
8
Open Source licenses for fonts and art
SIL Open Font License (OFL) allows licensed fonts to be used,
modified and redistributed only if they are not sold by themselves.
They must be embedded or bundled.
http://scripts.sil.org/cms/scripts/page.php?site_id=nrsi&id=OFL_web
Free Art License: Attribution. Anyone can copy, distribute, perform in
public, and modify the work, as long as you apply this license to any
new work, and point to the original credited work. This can be
applied to any text, picture, sound, or gesture that you have rights to,
both physical and digital. http://artlibre.org/licence/lal/en
Additional information about open source licenses can be found at
the Open Source Initiative. http://opensource.org/
9
Need assistance or have questions?
•
The UVa Library Research Data Services provides
consulting and training services to UVA researchers and
graduate students in all aspects of research data
management.
•
We can help you navigate and negotiate through the
tricky issues and many approvals in order to responsibly
share your research data.
•
Contact us at dmconsult@virginia.edu
10