The following summary is for guidance purposes only and not a substitute for the full deposit licence (available on this page).

The ADS Deposit Licence is an agreement that the ADS enters into with the Depositor of each archive collection. This agreement provides the legal permissions and warranties needed to allow the ADS to preserve in the long-term, and make freely accessible in a variety of formats and media, the deposited materials.

By agreeing to the deposit licence the depositor is confirming that all fair processing notices have been given (and/or, as applicable, consents obtained) and that the data collection does not and will not contravene any laws.

The agreement is a non-exclusive licence, which ensures that copyright in the original material is not transferred by this agreement. Copyright of all data held by the ADS is identified within each data collection.

The deposit licence also determines the reuse licence under which the depositor wishes the data to be disseminated under.

A deposit licence must be agreed before any archival work takes place on the data deposited.

The deposit licence is sent to the depositor electronically and agreement is confirmed through pressing an acceptance button once the agreement has been read. The agreed upon Deposit Licence is then sent to the depositor in PDF format and archived alongside the data collection.

A standard deposit licence can be downloaded through this page on the Downloads area.

In certain circumstances it may be appropriate for a bespoke deposit licence to be agreed. If you think your deposit requires a bespoke deposit agreement, or if you have any questions about the Deposit Licence please contact the ADS helpdesk.