ODbL Full Form: Open Database License v1.0

Open Database License (ODbL)

The Open Database License (ODbL) is a copyleft license from Open Data Commons (a project of the Open Knowledge Foundation), version 1.0 published June 2009, that grants reuse rights to a database subject to attribution and share-alike conditions, drafted specifically around database rights and database structure/contents rather than adapted from a creative-works copyright license.

ByCASRAI Editorial Board

· Last updated 15 Aug 2026

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Worked examples

Is an instance

OpenStreetMap's geographic database, relicensed from CC BY-SA to ODbL in September 2012 specifically because ODbL is drafted around database rights rather than adapted from a creative-works license.

Is an instance

A research data repository that publishes a compiled dataset under 'ODbL 1.0', requiring any redistributed adapted version of that dataset to also be offered under ODbL and to carry attribution to the original compilers.

The Open Database License (ODbL) is a copyleft license from Open Data Commons that grants reuse rights to a database under attribution and share-alike conditions, written specifically for databases rather than adapted from a creative-works license. Version 1.0, published June 2009, remains the current and only released version.

Why databases needed a license of their own

Standard copyright licenses, including the Creative Commons suite, were written to license copyrightable creative works — text, images, music. A database is a different kind of object: its individual factual contents (a coordinate, a measurement, a name) are frequently not copyrightable at all, while the selection, arrangement, or structure of the database may be. Complicating this further, some jurisdictions — most notably the European Union, under its Database Directive — also recognize a separate sui generis database right, protecting the investment made in compiling a database even where no copyright applies to its contents. ODbL was drafted to address all three layers at once: it separately licenses the database (the copyrightable selection/arrangement/structure), its contents (to the extent individual elements are protected), and, where a jurisdiction recognizes it, the sui generis database right. This is the core reason a generic CC license is a poor fit for a dataset and ODbL exists as a purpose-built alternative.

The three ODbL conditions

Attribution. Public use of the database, or of works produced from it, must credit the source in the manner the license (or an accompanying ODbL-compliant notice) specifies.
Share-Alike. If an adapted (modified) version of the database is publicly used, that adapted database must also be offered under ODbL — the copyleft mechanism that keeps derivative databases open.
Keep Open. A redistributor may apply technological restrictions (such as DRM) to a copy, but only if an unrestricted version is also made available — a technological measure cannot be used to functionally revoke the license’s openness.

Note what ODbL’s share-alike condition does not require: producing a normal analytical or creative work from an ODbL-licensed database (a report, a map image, a chart) does not generally obligate that output itself to be ODbL-licensed, only an adapted database made public. This distinction between “database” and “work produced from a database” is specific to ODbL’s structure and is a common point of confusion for researchers reusing ODbL data.

The Open Data Commons license family

ODbL is one of three legal tools Open Data Commons publishes for data, forming a permissiveness spectrum comparable in spirit to the Creative Commons suite:

PDDL (Public Domain Dedication and License) — dedicates a database to the public domain, with no conditions at all.
ODC-BY (Attribution License) — requires attribution only, no share-alike.
ODbL (Open Database License) — attribution plus share-alike, the most restrictive of the three, described above.

ODbL vs. Creative Commons licenses

Researchers and data managers choosing between ODbL and a Creative Commons license such as CC BY-SA for a dataset should weigh two practical differences. First, ODbL is drafted around database-specific legal concepts (database rights, the database/contents/work-produced-from-database distinction) that CC licenses do not address, giving it more precise legal footing in jurisdictions that recognize a sui generis database right. Second, because CC BY-SA’s share-alike condition is not written with database structure in mind, applying it to a dataset can create ambiguity about whether merging or subsetting the data counts as an “adaptation” requiring share-alike — a question ODbL’s drafting addresses more directly. In practice, many research data repositories default to open data released under CC0 or CC BY rather than a share-alike license at all, since NC/SA/ND-style conditions can interact poorly with how datasets get merged, subsetted, or recombined; ODbL is chosen specifically when a data publisher wants copyleft protection (derivatives must stay open) and views a database-specific instrument as more appropriate than adapting a CC license to that purpose. See CASRAI’s Data Management Plan (DMP) entry for where a dataset’s license is typically documented, and the reuse license entry for the general concept ODbL is one instance of.

Worked example

The best-known real-world ODbL adoption is OpenStreetMap, the collaboratively built geographic database, which relicensed its data from CC BY-SA to ODbL in September 2012 specifically because ODbL was purpose-built for database rights rather than adapted from a creative-works license. Any research project incorporating OpenStreetMap data must comply with ODbL’s attribution and share-alike terms for that geographic database.

Counter-example: a research dataset released under a plain “CC BY-SA 4.0” statement, with no reference to database rights or ODbL, is licensed under Creative Commons terms, not ODbL — the two are related in spirit (both are attribution-plus-share-alike copyleft instruments) but are legally distinct licenses with different drafting, and a data reuser must check which one actually applies rather than assuming they are interchangeable.

Frequently Asked Questions

What does ODbL stand for?

ODbL stands for Open Database License, a copyleft license published by Open Data Commons for databases. Version 1.0, released in June 2009, remains the only version issued.

What license does OpenStreetMap use?

OpenStreetMap’s geographic database is licensed under ODbL. The project relicensed its data from CC BY-SA to ODbL in September 2012 because ODbL was purpose-built for database rights rather than adapted from a license written for creative works.

Does ODbL’s share-alike requirement apply to maps or reports made from an ODbL database?

No. ODbL’s share-alike condition requires an adapted (modified) database that is made public to also be offered under ODbL, but it does not generally extend to an ordinary analytical or creative work — such as a report, map image, or chart — produced from the database. Only an adapted database made public triggers the share-alike obligation.

Can ODbL-licensed data be used commercially?

Yes. ODbL’s three conditions are attribution, share-alike, and keep-open; it does not include a non-commercial restriction, so commercial use is permitted as long as those conditions are met.

How does ODbL differ from a Creative Commons license like CC BY-SA for a dataset?

ODbL is drafted specifically around database-specific legal concepts — database rights and the distinction between a database, its contents, and works produced from it — that CC licenses do not address. Applying CC BY-SA’s share-alike condition to a dataset can create ambiguity over whether merging or subsetting data counts as an “adaptation,” a question ODbL’s drafting addresses more directly.

Use in your systems

JATS XML <role> element

xml

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      vocab-term="Open Database License (ODbL)"
      vocab-term-identifier="https://casrai.org/dictionary/term/open-database-license-odbl" />

Schema.org DefinedTerm (JSON-LD)

json

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