Business Data Licensing Glossary for Sellers

A business data licensing glossary is useful when it connects unfamiliar terms to an owner’s next question. The meanings below organize a commercial discussion; they do not interpret your contract. Read the actual agreement with your adviser, especially where scope, permitted use, exclusivity, privacy responsibilities, acceptance and payment interact with each other.

Terms that define the proposed asset

Operational record

For this discussion, an operational record is evidence generated while a business performs its own work. Internal planning history or a company-created procedure can be a candidate. Being stored in a company account does not establish that all content is available for licensing.

Ask which business function the proposed collection describes and which customer or third-party materials are excluded. Review the relevant agreements before treating client-held files as available for licensing.

Dataset scope

Scope is the boundary around the material under discussion. Define sources, business functions, included periods, record categories and exclusions. If the scope changes, ask which approvals and price assumptions need review again.

A description such as “all internal data” leaves important decisions unresolved. Use the inventory guide to identify a bounded candidate before discussing a sample.

Provenance

Provenance explains the origin and preparation history of the package. It includes source systems, responsible functions, extraction method and changes made during preparation. It helps a reviewer understand what the collection represents.

Ask whether relationships between sources are supported by the retained information. Do not present a newly reconstructed link as an untouched historical fact. Document the preparation method and uncertainty.

Manifest

In this preparation framework, a manifest is a description of a particular package version. It can identify included files or categories, relevant periods, field meanings and omissions without reproducing the underlying content.

Agree what the buyer expects the manifest to contain. A general inventory of possible records and a description of the actual delivery are different documents, even if both use similar headings.

Terms that define the commercial permission

License

A license is the agreement governing a recipient’s permission to use specified material. Its effect depends on the actual wording. The owner should ask what is covered, what the recipient can do and which obligations continue afterward.

Garrow’s stated model concerns an introduction to discuss a license, rather than selling the operating business. That does not remove the need to review the formal rights grant.

Permitted purpose

The permitted purpose describes the activities authorized by the agreement. Ask whether it covers training, evaluation, product use, preparation or something broader. Your adviser should check how the wording relates to the proposed package.

Do not rely on a general verbal description if the formal grant is wider. The AI use guide helps frame questions about the requested activity and deliverable.

Duration

Duration concerns how long the permission or particular obligations last. Ask whether the agreement has an end date, how termination works and what can continue after it ends. Different clauses can have different durations.

Keep sample retention, the main license and confidentiality obligations distinct. A short negotiation period does not necessarily mean every permission granted during that discussion expires with it.

Perpetual

Perpetual generally signals a permission without a fixed expiry, subject to the actual contract. Ask your adviser what the agreement allows to continue and what rights, if any, can be terminated.

Polyshares describes its selected published licenses as perpetual and exclusive. That is buyer-stated evidence of a particular structure, not a recommendation that an owner accept the same terms.

Exclusivity

Exclusivity concerns restrictions on overlapping rights granted elsewhere. Ask which records, purposes, recipients and periods the restriction covers. Keeping your original files does not by itself establish freedom to grant another license.

Review existing commitments before discussing another buyer. Do not assume the same company record can be submitted through overlapping routes without reviewing authority and terms.

Onward rights

Onward rights concern whether another entity may receive or use the licensed material. Ask about affiliates, preparation providers and downstream users. Distinguish access needed for handling from a right to use data for a separate purpose.

The buyer qualification guide explains why the signing entity and intended recipient should both be clear. Your company needs to understand the actual handling chain.

Terms that affect privacy and preparation

Redaction

Redaction is the removal of selected content from the prepared material. Ask which fields, passages and attachments are reviewed, who performs the work and how omissions affect interpretation.

A promise to remove obvious identifiers is not a complete explanation of the process. Garrow does not inspect or redact seller records. Ask the buyer and your own reviewers to define responsibilities.

Pseudonymisation

The ICO describes pseudonymisation as distinct from anonymisation. Personal information can remain identifiable through additional information, so replacement labels should not be presented as proof of anonymity.

Ask which linking information is retained and who can access it. Have your advisers assess the actual method rather than interpreting a privacy label in isolation.

Anonymous information

Anonymous information is different from a dataset whose direct names have merely been removed. The ICO’s guidance centers the question of whether a person remains identifiable. The page also notes that guidance is under review following legislative changes.

Do not declare a proposed delivery anonymous yourself because a buyer uses that word. Ask for the method, responsibility and relevant review. Use the privacy guide to organize those questions.

Annotation

Annotation adds information such as a category, judgment or explanation to a record. Determine whether that information existed historically or is newly created for the transaction. Keep those sources distinct.

If new annotation is required, agree the method, reviewer qualifications, uncertainty handling and commercial responsibility. Do not present guessed historical explanations as facts.

Evaluation

An evaluation assesses a defined behavior against an agreed method. When a buyer asks for evaluation material, clarify the task, expected evidence and limitations of the collection. A business archive is not automatically a ready-made benchmark.

micro1’s public material refers to operational data for training and evaluation. That advertised interest does not certify your package or establish its performance.

Terms that determine work and payment

Sample review

A sample review is a limited examination under agreed terms. Ask what actual records are needed, who may inspect them, which activities are allowed and what happens when discussions end.

A sample is still a disclosure. Keep its scope and permissions separate from the proposed full package. A small review does not justify unrestricted system access.

Acceptance criteria

Acceptance criteria are the agreed conditions for treating delivery as meeting the contract. Ask which checks apply, who performs them and how disagreements or partial rejection affect the seller’s obligations.

Distinguish correction of a faulty export from creation of information the archive never contained. The quality checklist helps describe known limitations before acceptance is negotiated.

Payment trigger

The trigger is the event that starts a payment obligation or schedule under the agreement. It might relate to an agreed delivery or acceptance event; the actual contract determines the answer.

Ask what evidence shows the trigger occurred and who confirms it. A published buyer timetable does not set the terms of your transaction. A headline amount is incomplete without those mechanics.

Referral fee

A referral fee compensates an introduction under the applicable arrangement. Garrow says its fee is paid by the buyer if a resulting license closes, with no Garrow fee or commission charged to the seller.

That commercial incentive should remain visible when you assess guidance. It does not mean Garrow has valued the records, verified preparation or guaranteed a payment.

Use the glossary on an actual proposal

Mark unclear words in the offer and ask which clause resolves them. Compare the resulting plain-language description to your approved package. If the meanings change the rights or work involved, have the relevant reviewers assess the changed proposal.

Keep the vocabulary disciplined: an inquiry is not a contract, and a proposed payment is not money received.

Enter your company details and choose system categories in Garrow’s intake.