How to license your data

As an open data standard, IATI requires you to publish your data under an open licence. This allows others to freely use it, supporting transparency and efficiency in development and humanitarian work.

Without a licence, your data isn’t considered ‘open’—users won’t know their rights and must request permission to use it.

What will my data be used for?

Your IATI data may be used in tools, apps, and databases. Stakeholders, partners, governments, researchers, and journalists might use it for planning, analysis, accountability, or reporting.

For this to happen, your data must be openly licensed.

Which licence should I use?

IATI recommends using an open licence with no restrictions on use, sharing, or understanding of your data. There are two main types:

Public domain:

Anyone can use, share, or adapt your data for any purpose, including commercial use, without restrictions. Examples include:

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

Attribution-only:

Similar to public domain, but users must credit you, link to the licence, and note any changes made. Examples include:

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

Some organisations have to use specific licences. For example, UK government departments 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.