Software Deposit: How to choose a software licence

By depositing your software into a digital repository, you are implicitly stating that, at some point in time, you expect, or hope, someone will download it, with the aim of inspecting, replicating, reproducing or reusing your research. A software licence is an explicit, and legally-binding, statement of what others can, and cannot, do with your software and any obligations upon them. This guide provides an overview of the licensing options available - specifically open source licences, proprietary licences and dual licencing - and the key qualities of each in respect to allowing others to inspect, use and reuse your software.