Q. Common license types for datasets and what they mean
If you plan to release your research data, a license helps clearly lay out the terms of use to the end user.
Below are some common licenses used with research datasets. If you have questions, please contact digitize@ucalgary.ca.
Public Domain: Public Domain Mark
Technically not a license, the public domain mark relinquishes all rights to a dataset and dedicates the dataset to the public domain.
CC-0: Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication
A Creative Commons license and is like a public domain dedication. The copyright holder surrenders rights in a dataset using this license.
ODC-PDDL: Open Data Commons Public Domain Dedication and License
This license is one of the Open Data Commons licenses and is like a public domain dedication. The copyright holder surrenders rights in a dataset using this license.
CC-BY: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
This license is one of the open Creative Commons licenses and allows users to share and adapt the dataset so long as they give credit to the copyright holder.
ODC-BY: Open Data Commons Attribution License
This license is one of the Open Data Commons licenses and allows users to share and adapt the dataset as long as they give credit to the copyright holder.
CC-BY-SA: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International
This license is one of the open Creative Commons licenses and allows users to share and adapt the dataset as long as they give credit to the copyright holder and distribute any additions, transformations or changes to the dataset under this same license
ODC-ODbL: Open Data Commons Open Database License
This license is one of the Open Data Commons licenses and allows users to share and adapt the dataset as long as they give credit to the copyright holder and distribute any additions, transformation or changes to the dataset.
CC BY-NC: Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International
This license is one of the Creative Commons licenses and allows users to share and adapt the dataset if they give credit to the copyright holder and do not use the dataset for any commercial purposes.
CC BY-ND: Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International
This license is one of the Creative Commons licenses and allows users to share the dataset if they give credit to copyright holder, but they cannot make any additions, transformations or changes to the dataset under this license.
CC BY-NC-SA: Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International
This license is one of the Creative Commons licenses and allows users to share the dataset only if they (1) give credit to the copyright holder, (2) do not use the dataset for any commercial purposes, and (3) distribute any additions, transformations or changes to the dataset under this same license.
CC BY-NC-ND: Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International
This license is one of the Creative Commons licenses and allows users to use only your unmodified dataset if they give credit to the copyright holder and do not share it for commercial purposes. Users cannot make any additions, transformations or changes to the dataset under this license.