Choosing a Licence

You need to choose an appropriate licence for datasets and software that you upload to 4TU.ResearchData because this defines how others can use and build upon your research. What other researchers may—or may not—do with your research data and software is an important consideration. You can find further guidance and information on licence selection at the following link.

The repository provides several options for data and software.

Data Licences

Public Domain Dedication (CC0): Default option, allowing unrestricted reuse without any legal barriers.

Attribution (CC BY): Permits any use with proper credit to the original creator.

Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA): Allows use and modification with credit, requiring derivative works to use the same licence.

Attribution-NoDerivatives (CC BY-ND): Permits redistribution with credit, but no modifications.

Attribution-NonCommercial (CC BY-NC): Allows non-commercial use and modification with credit.

Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike (CC BY-NC-SA): Permits non-commercial use and modification with credit, requiring the same licence for derivatives.

Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives (CC BY-NC-ND): Most restrictive, allowing only non-commercial sharing with credit.

Software Licences

MIT Licence: Permissive, requiring only copyright notice retention.

BSD 3-Clause: Similar to MIT, with an additional non-endorsement clause.

Apache Licence 2: Allows freedom with explicit patent rights.

Hardware Licences

CERN Open Hardware Licence Version 2: Permissive (CERN-OHL-P).

CERN Open Hardware Licence Version 2: Weakly Reciprocal (CERN-OHL-W).

CERN Open Hardware Licence Version 2 S: Strongly Reciprocal (CERN-OHL-S).

For maximum reuse and FAIR data management, you should choose a licence that allows the widest audience and range of uses possible.

A detailed list of licence options is available here. Further information can be found via the the European Commission’s licensing assistant.