How to license your data

As an open data standard, IATI requires you to make your data available under an open licence so it can be freely used. This is central to improving transparency and efficiency in all development cooperation and humanitarian work.

But if you don’t offer your data under a licence that sets out the terms of use, others won’t know what they’re allowed to do with it and it won’t be classed as ‘open data’. Data users would also need to contact you for permission each time they wanted to use some of your data.

What will my data be used for?

All the data you publish to IATI will be used. It will be imported into tools, applications and databases. Your stakeholders, partners and other interested parties may look at your data to see how you’ve spent their funding and the impacts of your work.

National governments might use it to help with planning. Others may analyse your data and use it for research, decision-making or awareness raising. Journalists may use the data to inform articles they produce.

But for all this data use to happen efficiently, your data needs to be ‘open’. This means that you must give users legal permission to use your IATI data by publishing under a licence. There are several options.

Which licence should I use?

IATI recommends using an open licence that removes restrictions on anyone interested in using, sharing and understanding your data. There are two types of open licence: public domain and attribution only.

Public domain licences

With this type of licence, anyone can share or adapt your data for any purpose, even commercially. There are no restrictions on how people can use your data. Examples include:

• Creative Commons CC0
• Open Data Commons Public Domain Dedication and License (PDDL)

Attribution-only licences

With this type of licence, as with a public domain licence, anyone can share or adapt your data for any purpose, including commercial use. But they must give appropriate credit, provide a link to your licence, and note any changes they’ve made to your information. Examples include:

• Creative Commons Attribution licences (CC-BY)
• Open Data Commons Attribution License

Some publishing organisations or government departments have to use specific licences. For example, UK government departments should normally publish using the UK Open Government Licence.

How do I add my licence details?

When you create a publisher account on the IATI Registry, you’ll be asked to select a licence.

If the licence you need to use isn’t listed, you’ll have to select an 'Other' option. You can include further details about your licence and any attribution information in the IATI Registry ‘Description’ field.

Where will I see my licence information?

The type of licence you’re publishing under will be displayed in the metadata for each of your published files.

Where can I find more information?

There are several guides available on licensing open data. A good place to start is the Publisher’s Guide to Open Data Licensing by the Open Data Institute.