Licensing and intellectual property

We show the exact licence for every released artefact and are precise about what it does and does not permit.

This is draft content provided for transparency and requires legal review before it is relied upon.

Exact licence, always shown

We display the exact licence for every released artefact — software, dataset or model — and mark ‘Licence not yet confirmed’ where it is unresolved.

Public access is not public domain

Being able to read or access something is not a dedication to the public domain. A dataset is not ‘open’ when it carries restrictions, and non-commercial licences prohibit commercial use.

Weights & downloads

Model weights are not released unless a licence permits distribution; dataset downloads are not published without confirmed licensing.

Background vs research-output IP

We distinguish background IP, research outputs, open-source software, open vs restricted weights, and third-party material. Community outputs are not automatically assigned to Octopus Core, and the Institute does not claim ownership of third-party data.

Commercial licensing

Where commercial licensing of a research output is possible, it is arranged separately and does not change the licence shown for the open artefact.