What a data licensing agreement says, term by term

Length ranges from a set period to forever. micro1's license is irrevocable and perpetual, and Opendatabay's becomes perpetual and irrevocable once brokered files are delivered. Polyshares says its licenses run for a defined term, and labels each of its four published deals a perpetual exclusive license. DataVendor uses the term stated in each listing, and SuperAnnotate says you license rights for a set period.^1,4,5,9,3,10

The grant usually spells out both training and passing the data on. micro1 may develop, train, fine-tune, evaluate and test models, sublicense through multiple tiers, and commercially exploit the models and their outputs, which it owns. Protege's grant includes the right to sublicense to its buyers, whose default license covers internal development of a model.^11,1,2,12

Limits appear in the same place. micro1 may not knowingly try to re-identify people or customers in anonymized data and may not disclose the seller's identity without consent. Protege bars buyers from re-identifying people or reselling the data, and DataVendor's buyers must be barred from identifying individuals. Defined.ai's agreement with its own buyers shows the downstream end: non-exclusive, no sublicensing, internal use only.^11,1,12,3,13

Payment usually hangs on the firm accepting the data. micro1 has 30 business days after delivery to reject it, after which it is deemed accepted, and the seller can invoice only after acceptance. DataVendor pays revenue share within 30 days after the month it receives the money, and Opendatabay pays brokered deals within 14 days of cleared funds.^14,15,16

Deletion of the data and deletion of the models are two separate things in these agreements. micro1 deletes data within 120 days of final delivery but does not delete trained models. DataVendor deletes within 90 days after the agreement ends, with carve-outs for continuing buyer subscriptions and for derived data. Ooak Data says it deletes the raw archive within 30 days of delivery.^1,17,18

Withdrawing from a platform has limits too. Under Opendatabay's terms, licenses already granted survive and nobody has to delete or retrain models unless law requires it. Under Protege's, existing buyers keep access for 12 more months and academic buyers for 3 more years.^16,19

Every seller agreement we read asks you to promise the data is yours to license. micro1 asks for warranties on rights, consents and how the data was gathered, and bars health records, biometric identifiers and children's data. DataVendor asks you to warrant that your description of the data is accurate, and gives you 30 days to fix a problem before the fees for that data are refunded. Opendatabay asks sellers to keep chain-of-title records for at least six years.^20,21,16

Indemnity runs mostly from the seller to the firm, with a narrower promise back. Sellers cover third-party claims tied to the data under micro1's, Protege's and DataVendor's terms. micro1 covers use outside the license, Protege covers what it tells buyers that doesn't match the agreement, and Opendatabay covers its own misrepresentation, payment errors and security failures.^22,12,23,24

Liability caps are set differently in each. micro1's is three times the fees for each side, Protege's is two times the fees over the prior twelve months, and DataVendor's is the greater of what the vendor paid HUD in twelve months or USD $1,000. All three leave indemnities outside the cap.^22,12,25

Notice periods run from 30 to 90 days. Either side can end micro1's terms on 30 days' notice, Defined.ai's buyer agreement on 60 and DataVendor's on 90, though sublicenses already granted continue. Protege may close a provider's access at its sole discretion. Disputes go to JAMS arbitration under California law at micro1, to Delaware courts at Protege, to London courts under English law at Opendatabay, and to Singapore arbitration at DataVendor.^{14,26,17,12,27,25,16}

micro1's and Protege's published terms both say a signed order or schedule controls where the two differ, so the document you are handed may not match what is posted. Our quiz connects you with partners that take a business like yours, so you can ask for the actual agreement early.^20,2