Licences and legal guidance

This page provides curated links to licensing tools and legal guidance relevant to research data, databases, software, documentation, publications and other research outputs.

The resources can help you identify an appropriate licence, record reuse conditions and recognise when copyright, database rights, contractual obligations, confidentiality, personal-data protection or other restrictions require additional review.

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Resource information

Resource type

Curated directory of licence tools, legal references and research-data guidance

Intended users

Researchers, data stewards, curators, repository teams, project coordinators and institutional support staff

Recommended use

During data planning, rights assessment, repository deposit, software publication and reuse of third-party materials

Legal status

General information only; complex cases require review by the responsible legal, ethics or data-protection service

Select a resource by task

Start by identifying the type of research object and the rights or restrictions that may apply.

License data or content

Use Creative Commons tools for copyrightable datasets, documentation, figures, reports and other research materials.

License a database

Consider whether copyright, database rights and rights in the individual database contents require separate treatment.

License software

Use a recognised software licence and record its standard SPDX identifier in the repository and source-code files.

Manage legal restrictions

Review personal data, confidentiality, third-party rights, contracts, ethics and intellectual-property obligations.

A licence can grant only the rights that you control

Before applying a licence, identify who owns or controls the relevant copyright, database rights and other intellectual property. Review employment agreements, consortium agreements, funder conditions and third-party materials.

A licence does not override personal-data protection, confidentiality, informed-consent conditions, ethical restrictions, contractual obligations, patents, trade secrets or rights held by another party.

Recommended starting points

Start with these resources when selecting a licence or identifying the legal questions that require further review.

Licence selection tool

Creative Commons Chooser

Guided tool for selecting a Creative Commons licence or public domain tool and generating a suitable licence notice.

Best for: datasets, documentation, reports, images and other copyrightable research materials

Output: licence name, link and reusable attribution or HTML notice

Open CC Chooser

Research data legal guide

OpenAIRE Legal Guidance

Research-oriented guidance on copyright, database protection, licences, reuse and legal issues affecting research data.

Best for: initial rights assessment and licensing decisions in European research

Includes: practical questions and guidance for researchers

View OpenAIRE Guidance

Standard licence registry

SPDX License List

Maintained list of commonly used licences and exceptions with standard identifiers, full names, texts and canonical URLs.

Best for: recording software and other standard licences consistently

Provides: SPDX identifiers and machine-readable licence data

Search SPDX Licences

EU intellectual-property guidance

European IP Helpdesk

European Commission guidance on intellectual property, Open Science, dissemination, exploitation and Horizon Europe project implementation.

Best for: EU-funded projects and interaction between Open Science and intellectual-property management

Includes: guides, publications, training and frequently asked questions

Visit European IP Helpdesk

Creative Commons licences and public domain tools

These tools are commonly used for research data, documentation, figures, educational materials and other copyrightable outputs.

Public domain dedication

CC0 1.0 Universal

Legal tool through which a rightsholder waives copyright and related rights to the fullest extent permitted by law.

Best for: maximising unrestricted reuse of datasets and metadata where the rightsholder can make the dedication

Attribution: not a licence condition, although scholarly citation remains good practice

View CC0

Open attribution licence

CC BY 4.0

Licence permitting copying, redistribution and adaptation, including commercial reuse, subject to attribution and other licence conditions.

Best for: openly reusable datasets, documentation, reports, images and educational content

Condition: appropriate credit, licence link and indication of changes

View CC BY 4.0

Attribution share-alike licence

CC BY-SA 4.0

Licence permitting sharing and adaptation while requiring attribution and distribution of adaptations under the same licence.

Best for: outputs where reciprocal open licensing of adaptations is required

Consider: compatibility with downstream systems and combined materials

View CC BY-SA 4.0

Licence comparison tool

Creative Commons Chooser

Interactive tool for comparing CC conditions and generating clear licence marking for digital or printed materials.

Use it to: choose between attribution, share-alike, non-commercial and no-derivatives conditions

Important: confirm that the selected restrictions satisfy applicable Open Access requirements

Choose a CC Licence

Database-specific licences

These legal tools are designed specifically for databases and database rights.

Database public domain tool

Open Data Commons PDDL

Public Domain Dedication and License intended to place a database in the public domain by waiving applicable rights.

Best for: unrestricted database reuse where the rightsholder can make the dedication

Full name: Public Domain Dedication and License

View PDDL

Database attribution licence

Open Data Commons ODC-By

Licence permitting sharing, modification and use of a database subject to attribution requirements.

Best for: databases where attribution is required but share-alike is not

Important: separately identify the licence applying to database contents when necessary

View ODC-By

Database share-alike licence

Open Database License

Licence permitting use, sharing and modification of a database while requiring attribution and share-alike distribution of derivative databases.

Best for: databases requiring reciprocal licensing of adapted databases

Abbreviation: ODbL

View ODbL

Database licence overview

Open Data Commons

Overview of legal tools, summaries, complete licence texts and instructions for applying open-data licences.

Use it to: compare PDDL, ODC-By and ODbL

Maintainer: Open Knowledge Foundation

Compare ODC Licences

Software and source-code licences

Use software-specific licences for source code, scripts, libraries, workflow software and computational tools.

Software licence selector

Choose a License

GitHub-supported guide comparing common open-source licences, their permissions, conditions and limitations.

Best for: an initial comparison of common permissive and copyleft licences

Note: simplified guidance does not replace legal review of complex software projects

Choose a Software Licence

Licence identifier registry

SPDX License List

Standardised registry of licence names, identifiers, canonical texts, exceptions and machine-readable licence data.

Use it to: record licences consistently in source files, package metadata and repository records

Examples: MIT, Apache-2.0, GPL-3.0-only and BSD-3-Clause

Search SPDX License List

Open-source licence registry

OSI Approved Licenses

Searchable list of licences reviewed and approved by the Open Source Initiative as conforming to the Open Source Definition.

Use it to: verify whether a software licence is OSI approved

Scope: free use, modification and redistribution of software under stated conditions

Browse OSI Licences

European copyleft licence

European Union Public Licence

Reciprocal open-source software licence initiated by the European Commission and designed for use under European law.

Best for: software projects requiring a European multilingual copyleft licence

Abbreviation: EUPL

View EUPL 1.2

Research data and Open Science legal guidance

These resources address rights assessment, licensing, reuse and intellectual-property management in research projects.

Rights assessment guide

Is Research Data Legally Protected?

OpenAIRE guidance for identifying copyright, database rights and other forms of protection that may apply to research data.

Use it before: selecting a licence or authorising reuse

Important: different components of one dataset may have different legal status

Review Data Protection Rights

Research data licensing guide

How Do I License My Research Data?

OpenAIRE guidance on selecting, applying and recording licences for protected datasets and databases.

Includes: CC licences, CC0, attribution, repository marking and README notices

Best for: researchers and data stewards preparing a repository deposit

Read Licensing Guidance

Third-party reuse guide

Can I Reuse Someone Else’s Data?

OpenAIRE guidance on assessing licences, legal protection and restrictions before reusing third-party research data.

Use it before: combining, redistributing, adapting or republishing external data

Check: licence compatibility, attribution, scope and additional restrictions

Review Reuse Guidance

Horizon Europe IP guide

Open Science in Horizon Europe

European IP Helpdesk guide explaining Open Science obligations and their relationship with intellectual-property management in Horizon Europe.

Best for: proposal preparation and implementation of EU-funded projects

Covers: access, sharing, protection, dissemination and exploitation

View Horizon Europe Guide

Personal data and scientific research guidance

Licensing does not replace compliance with data-protection law, ethical approval, informed consent or institutional security procedures.

EU legal framework

General Data Protection Regulation

Official consolidated legal text governing the processing and protection of personal data in the European Union and European Economic Area.

Relevant to: research involving identifiable individuals or personal information

Common topics: lawful basis, transparency, security, rights and scientific-research safeguards

View GDPR on EUR-Lex

Consultation guidelines

EDPB Scientific Research Guidelines

Guidelines addressing how personal data may be lawfully processed for scientific research under the GDPR.

Reference: Guidelines 1/2026

Status: consultation version; verify whether a final version has subsequently been adopted

View EDPB Guidelines

Anonymisation guidance

EDPB Anonymisation Guidelines

Draft European guidance on assessing whether individuals can still be isolated, linked or inferred from a dataset.

Reference: Guidelines 02/2026

Status: public consultation open until 30 October 2026

Check Current EDPB Status

Data-protection topic

Anonymisation and Pseudonymisation

EDPB topic page explaining the distinction between anonymisation and pseudonymisation and providing related regulatory materials.

Anonymisation: aims to make individuals no longer identifiable

Pseudonymisation: reduces linkability but the information remains personal data

View EDPB Topic

Open access does not mean that no rights or conditions apply

An openly available resource may still require attribution, preservation of notices, share-alike distribution or compliance with other licence conditions.

A resource displayed on a public website is not automatically licensed for copying, adaptation, redistribution, text and data mining or commercial reuse. Check the licence and applicable legal exceptions before reuse.

Licence selection checklist

Review the following before assigning a licence to a research output.

Rights and ownership

Who owns or controls the copyright, database rights, software, documentation and third-party components?

Object type

Are you licensing data, a database, source code, documentation, images, a model, a workflow or a combined research package?

Reuse conditions

Should reuse require attribution, share-alike distribution, source-code disclosure or another clearly justified condition?

External restrictions

Do personal data, confidentiality, contracts, ethics, patents, embargoes or third-party licences limit publication or reuse?

Applying a licence correctly

Use the full licence name

Record the licence title and version, such as Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International.

Add a canonical link

Link directly to the official licence page or include the complete licence text where the licence requires it.

Identify the licensed material

State whether the licence applies to the complete package, selected files, metadata, documentation, code or database.

Record excluded components

Identify third-party content, personal data, logos, trademarks or other components that are not covered by the licence.

Example of a clear dataset licence notice

Except where otherwise stated, the dataset metadata, documentation and data files in this deposit are licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence.

Third-party materials and files with separate rights statements are excluded. Users must cite the dataset using the citation provided on the repository landing page.

When additional review is required

Personal or sensitive data

Consult the responsible data-protection officer, ethics body or institutional service before publication.

Multiple rights holders

Confirm that all partners and contributors have authorised the proposed licence and publication conditions.

Commercialisation or patents

Coordinate open publication with intellectual-property, technology-transfer and patent-protection decisions.

Mixed-licence packages

Review compatibility where data, software, documentation and third-party materials use different licences.

This directory does not provide individual legal advice

The listed resources provide general information and standard legal tools. They cannot determine ownership, lawful processing, licence compatibility or publication conditions for a particular project without reviewing the relevant facts and documents.

Complex cases should be referred to the responsible institutional legal service, data-protection officer, ethics body, technology-transfer office or authorised project coordinator.

Verify current legal texts and guidance

Licence versions, regulatory guidance, funder conditions and consultation documents may change. Use the official provider’s current legal text rather than relying only on a summary or third-party description.

Human-readable licence summaries explain key provisions but do not replace the complete legal code.