Data Licensing Explained: Choosing Usage, Publication, or Master Rights

Oddity Software offers three license levels so customers can match a database purchase to the way they intend to use it. Usage Rights support limited internal reference use. Publication Rights support modification and publishing in a defined project. Master Rights provide the broadest operational, development, distribution, and update options.

Choose the license before you buy

Every Oddity database page presents the available license levels, price, record count, formats, update information, sample data, and schema. Review those details before checkout. Your order records the product and license you selected, and that selection controls the permitted use and fulfillment evidence attached to the purchase.

A license grants permission to use the data within the stated boundaries. It does not transfer ownership of Oddity’s underlying database product, source materials, documentation, site content, or other protected assets.

Usage Rights: work with the data as delivered

Usage Rights are the entry-level option for customers who need the database as an internal reference or research resource without modifying, publishing, importing, exporting, merging, or distributing it through another system.

This tier is appropriate when an authorized user wants to consult the supplied records in their delivered form for permitted internal work. It is not the right choice for building a public directory, loading the data into an application, combining it with other databases, or changing its structure.

• Use the delivered database for authorized internal reference or research.
• Keep access limited to the purchaser and other users expressly allowed by the license.
• Do not modify, merge, republish, redistribute, or incorporate the database into another product.
• Keep copyright, attribution, and proprietary notices intact.

Publication Rights: modify and publish within a project

Publication Rights are the recommended choice for many customers building a defined website, directory, research product, or business application. This license adds the ability to modify records and structure, import and export data, merge it with compatible information, use it on the web, and receive the available standard data formats.

Publication Rights are intended for a controlled project, not unrestricted redistribution of the original database. The license does not permit the purchaser to offer Oddity’s source database as a competing download, sublicense it broadly, or distribute the raw product outside the permitted project.

• Modify and organize the purchased data for the licensed project.
• Import, export, and merge the data as part of that work.
• Use the resulting implementation on the web.
• Request the standard formats available for the product.
• Protect the original files and limit access to authorized project users.

Master Rights: the broadest project and distribution rights

Master Rights are designed for customers who need the fullest level of flexibility offered for an Oddity database. In addition to the Publication capabilities, the current comparison includes use across multiple computers or websites, mobile development, custom file formats, distribution, and copyright endorsement.

Master customers are also eligible to purchase new version releases at the reduced update price shown for the product. Most database pages state the refresh schedule and current update price. An update is a later version of the licensed product, not a promise that every source field changes on an exact calendar day.

• Use the licensed database across the permitted multiple computers or websites.
• Develop web, desktop, or mobile implementations within the Master grant.
• Request custom file formats where the product supports them.
• Exercise the stated distribution and copyright-endorsement rights.
• Purchase eligible future versions at the listed Master update rate.

Compare the three licenses by intended use

Choose Usage when you need to consult the database internally in the form supplied. Choose Publication when you need to modify, import, merge, export, or publish the data in one controlled project. Choose Master when the project requires broader deployment, multiple computers or websites, mobile development, custom formats, distribution, copyright endorsement, or access to reduced-price future updates.

If the project crosses those boundaries, choose the higher tier before checkout or contact Oddity Software for clarification. Purchasing a lower tier and using the data as though a higher tier applied does not expand the license.

Understand what “publication” means

Publication allows the data to support the licensed project. It does not mean placing the complete raw database in a publicly downloadable file or exposing an endpoint that lets others reconstruct it. Design the project so customers or visitors receive the intended service, result, directory, analysis, or interface without obtaining the protected source product.

Apply reasonable access controls, query limits, and technical protections. If the business model depends on redistributing data files or sublicensing records to other organizations, Publication Rights may not be sufficient.

Understand distribution under Master Rights

The Master comparison includes distribution, but the precise use still needs to match the applicable license and product terms. Distribution does not erase source restrictions, legal obligations, privacy responsibilities, or proprietary notices.

Before building a resale, syndication, white-label, or multi-client product, confirm the intended delivery model with Oddity. Explain who receives the data, whether they receive raw records, how many properties or customers are involved, and whether recipients can extract or reuse the source.

Know how download consumption works

A completed Oddity order creates an entitlement for each purchased database item. The account workspace shows the product, license, file options, completed delivery events, and remaining allowance. The current standard purchase record provides two completed downloads for each order item.

The allowance is item-specific. Buying the same database again creates a new order-item entitlement rather than reusing the earlier item’s consumption. A download should count only after delivery completes successfully. Opening the download interface or beginning a failed stream should not consume a completed use.

Choose file formats deliberately

Available formats vary by product and license. Product pages identify standard format availability, samples, schema, and record information. Publication and Master Rights include the standard formats listed for the database; Master Rights add custom-format eligibility where supported.

Select a format compatible with the system that will use the data. CSV is portable, while database-specific formats can preserve types and structure more directly. A custom format may require preparation time and should be confirmed before purchase when it is essential to the project.

Plan for updates and changing records

Business, contact, public-record, and reference data changes over time. Review the listed version, record count, and update information before buying. Master Rights holders can purchase eligible updated versions at the reduced rate shown on the product page.

An update is delivered as a new product version. It does not silently alter the customer’s existing implementation. Plan how new records, removals, corrections, field changes, and local modifications will be compared and merged before replacing production data.

Use data lawfully and responsibly

A license describes Oddity’s permission for the product. It does not authorize conduct prohibited by privacy, marketing, intellectual-property, consumer-protection, or other applicable law. Customers remain responsible for determining whether their intended use is lawful and appropriate.

Respect suppression requests, access restrictions, source notices, and the reasonable expectations connected to the information. A database described as business or public information is not automatically appropriate for every outreach method or automated decision.

Protect the files and account

Keep downloaded files away from public directories, open cloud links, shared inboxes, and unauthorized staff. Use role-based access in the system that imports or publishes the data. Preserve the order, invoice, selected license, version, and download evidence with the project records.

Do not share account credentials or attempt to bypass download limits. If a delivery fails, use the customer portal or contact support so the event can be investigated and the correct entitlement restored when appropriate.

Ask before the purchase when the project is unusual

Contact Oddity before checkout when the intended use involves multiple clients, a network of websites, downloadable exports, redistribution, sublicensing, a mobile product, a custom format, or a use that does not fit the comparison clearly.

Provide a concise description of the audience, number of properties, delivery method, whether raw data will be exposed, and how the product will generate value. A clear answer before purchase is better than rebuilding a project around the wrong license later.

A customer license-selection checklist

1. Review the product description, sample, schema, record count, version, and formats.
2. Decide whether the data will remain internal or appear in a published project.
3. Identify any need to modify, import, export, or merge the database.
4. Count the computers, websites, applications, and customer properties involved.
5. Determine whether mobile development or a custom file format is required.
6. Decide whether anyone will receive raw records or downloadable data.
7. Review the need for future versions and reduced-price Master updates.
8. Confirm privacy, outreach, source, and industry obligations for the intended use.
9. Choose Usage, Publication, or Master based on the broadest required activity.
10. Ask Oddity for clarification before checkout if any boundary remains unclear.

Buy the rights the project actually needs

The best license is not automatically the least expensive or the broadest. It is the one that accurately covers the project. Usage Rights serve limited internal reference needs. Publication Rights support modification and a controlled published implementation. Master Rights support the widest deployment, format, distribution, and update requirements.

Choosing correctly protects the project and makes fulfillment clearer. The product page, selected cart item, order record, customer entitlement, and license terms should all tell the same story about what was purchased and how it may be used.