# What is Data licensing?

> Data licensing is giving another party permission to access and use a dataset under agreed terms, such as purpose, scope, duration, exclusivity and, in commercial deals, price, while the licensor keeps its rights in the data. It differs from transferring or assigning those rights outright.

Source: https://sellmydata.com/glossary/data-licensing/
Published: 2026-11-02

## How it works

A data licence grants permission to use a dataset on stated terms (who, for what purpose, for how long, whether it can be shared onward and, commercially, at what price) while the licensor keeps its rights. Think of it as a permission slip with conditions.

EU law draws this line clearly: database rights are economic rights, so they can be transferred, assigned *or* granted under a contractual licence ([EUR-Lex](https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=LEGISSUM%3Al26028)). A licence leaves ownership where it is; an assignment hands it over.

In the EU, the sui generis database right (a special right just for databases) recognises substantial investment in obtaining, verifying or presenting a database's contents ([EUR-Lex](https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=LEGISSUM%3Al26028)). The maker, who must be an EU national or resident, can prevent extraction or reuse of the whole or a substantial part of the contents, and protection lasts 15 years ([Your Europe](https://europa.eu/youreurope/business/running-business/intellectual-property/database-protection/index_en.htm)). In the US, facts are not copyrightable ([U.S. Copyright Office](https://www.copyright.gov/comp3/chap300/ch300-copyrightable-authorship.pdf)), and in *Feist v. Rural* (1991) the Supreme Court held that in a factual compilation only the compiler's selection and arrangement may be protected; the raw facts may be copied at will ([Justia](https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/499/340/)). That is one reason contract terms matter; ask counsel how this applies to your data.

A hypothetical example: a software company licenses a de-identified archive of its support tickets to an AI lab for model training only, for a fixed term, non-exclusively, so it can still license the same data to others.

## Open licences vs commercial licences

Open licences let anyone reuse data with few or no restrictions; commercial licences limit who can use it and on what terms. In US federal policy, an open license is any legally binding instrument that permits access, re-use and redistribution with few or no restrictions ([Data.gov](https://resources.data.gov/open-licenses/)). The UK's Open Data Institute says data without a licence can't be reused ([ODI](https://theodi.org/insights/guides/what-makes-data-open/)). The Linux Foundation's Community Data License Agreement (2017) comes in Sharing and Permissive versions ([Linux Foundation](https://www.linuxfoundation.org/press/press-release/linux-foundation-debuts-community-data-license-agreement)).

## Licensing for AI training

According to a summary of the US Copyright Office's May 2025 pre-publication report, stakeholders generally prefer an opt-in approach where they choose when, how and to whom they license, and the Office recommends letting the AI training licensing market develop naturally ([Jones Day](https://www.jonesday.com/en/insights/2025/05/us-copyright-office-issues-guidance-on-generative-ai-training)). The report concluded that "some uses of copyrighted works for generative AI training will qualify as fair use, and some will not" ([Congressional Research Service](https://www.congress.gov/crs-product/LSB10922)).

## Why it matters to a company selling data

- **A licence doesn't handle privacy.** The CDLA, for instance, is described as privacy agnostic ([Digitalisation World](https://m.digitalisationworld.com/news/52750/linux-foundation-debuts-community-data-license-agreement)), and the UK Information Commissioner's Office says pseudonymous information is still [personal data](/glossary/pii/) ([ICO](https://ico.org.uk/for-organisations/uk-gdpr-guidance-and-resources/data-sharing/anonymisation/introduction-to-anonymisation/)). The same guidance notes [de-identified data](/glossary/de-identification/) can still count as personal data, so [de-identification](https://sellmydata.com/de-identification/) reduces risk but has limits.
- **Your own promises count.** FTC staff wrote on February 13, 2024 that adopting more permissive data practices, such as sharing consumers' data or using it for AI training, and disclosing this only through a quiet, retroactive change to terms or a privacy policy may be unfair or deceptive ([FTC](https://www.ftc.gov/policy/advocacy-research/tech-at-ftc/2024/02/ai-other-companies-quietly-changing-your-terms-service-could-be-unfair-or-deceptive)). Review your commitments with counsel; a [rights check](https://sellmydata.com/rights/) covers customer contracts, privacy policy, employee communications and third-party content.
- **Terms shape the deal.** On [SellMyData](https://sellmydata.com/trust/), scope, format, [exclusivity](/glossary/exclusive-license/) and term are agreed per dataset, and nothing is licensed without the seller's sign-off on the buyer, the terms and the price. Price depends on data type, volume, years of history and current lab demand ([pricing](https://sellmydata.com/pricing/)).

To go further, [request an estimate](https://sellmydata.com/) or [book a 30-minute call](https://sellmydata.com/book/) with the founder; neither commits you to anything.

This entry is general information, not legal advice.

## Frequently asked questions

### What is data licensing?

It is a legal permission to use a dataset on stated terms: who can use it, for what purpose, for how long, and whether they can share it onward. The licensor usually keeps its rights, and the licensee gets only the use the licence describes.

### Is licensing data the same as selling data?

Not quite. People often say 'selling data', but a deal can be structured as a licence that grants defined use rather than a transfer of ownership. EU law separates a transfer or assignment of database rights from a contractual licence to use them, so the owner can keep its rights and license them on terms.

### Can you license data that isn't protected by copyright?

Yes. In the US, facts aren't copyrightable, and in a factual compilation only the compiler's selection and arrangement may be protected; the raw facts may be copied at will. That is one reason contract terms matter, and in the EU a separate database right may also apply. This is general information; ask counsel how it applies to your data.

### Does a data licence protect people's privacy?

Not by itself. One open data licence, the Community Data License Agreement, is described as privacy agnostic, and the UK Information Commissioner's Office (ICO), the UK data protection regulator, says pseudonymous information is still personal data. The ICO also notes de-identified data can still count as personal data, so de-identification reduces risk but has limits.

## Sources

- [Open Licenses](https://resources.data.gov/open-licenses/)
- [What makes data open?](https://theodi.org/insights/guides/what-makes-data-open/)
- [Linux Foundation Debuts Community Data License Agreement](https://www.linuxfoundation.org/press/press-release/linux-foundation-debuts-community-data-license-agreement)
- [Linux Foundation debuts Community Data License Agreement](https://m.digitalisationworld.com/news/52750/linux-foundation-debuts-community-data-license-agreement)
- [Legal protection of databases](https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=LEGISSUM%3Al26028)
- [Database protection](https://europa.eu/youreurope/business/running-business/intellectual-property/database-protection/index_en.htm)
- [Compendium of U.S. Copyright Office Practices, Chapter 300: Copyrightable Authorship](https://www.copyright.gov/comp3/chap300/ch300-copyrightable-authorship.pdf)
- [Feist Publications, Inc. v. Rural Telephone Service Co., 499 U.S. 340 (1991)](https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/499/340/)
- [U.S. Copyright Office Issues Guidance on Generative AI Training](https://www.jonesday.com/en/insights/2025/05/us-copyright-office-issues-guidance-on-generative-ai-training)
- [Copyright Office report on generative AI training](https://www.congress.gov/crs-product/LSB10922)
- [AI (and other) Companies: Quietly Changing Your Terms of Service Could Be Unfair or Deceptive](https://www.ftc.gov/policy/advocacy-research/tech-at-ftc/2024/02/ai-other-companies-quietly-changing-your-terms-service-could-be-unfair-or-deceptive)
- [Introduction to anonymisation](https://ico.org.uk/for-organisations/uk-gdpr-guidance-and-resources/data-sharing/anonymisation/introduction-to-anonymisation/)