Put clear rules around who can use your data and how

The main risk is usually not the label of the deal, but the assumptions each side makes about the data. One party may think it has broad reuse rights, while the other expects access to be narrow, time-limited or purpose-specific. A dedicated agreement helps spell out what data is being licensed, who can access it, what uses are allowed, whether sublicensing is permitted, and what happens at the end of the arrangement. It can also deal with ownership of outputs, analytics, improvements or derived datasets, which are often the first areas of disagreement.

It often covers the licensed dataset or data feed, the licence scope, permitted and prohibited uses, access conditions, confidentiality, intellectual property ownership, fees if relevant, support or service levels, liability wording, suspension rights and termination consequences. Depending on the arrangement, it may also address derived data, model training restrictions, audit-style rights, data quality disclaimers, or obligations to delete or return information at the end. The right mix of clauses depends on how the data is supplied and how the recipient intends to use it in practice.

The legal position depends heavily on the facts. Important details include what information you are licensing, where it comes from, whether it includes personal information, how often it is updated, whether the recipient can combine it with other sources, and whether the arrangement includes support or uptime commitments. How you collect, use and disclose information will shape both the drafting and the advice. If those operational details are unclear, the agreement can end up saying less than the parties think it says, especially around reuse rights and ownership of outputs.

Businesses often run into trouble here when they rely on a generic licence that was written for software, content or ordinary confidential information rather than a live data arrangement. Templates may not deal properly with recurring data feeds, usage restrictions, derived datasets, service levels, or the difference between owning raw data and owning outputs created from it. A tailored agreement helps you assess and reduce risk, but it helps you make informed decisions without making promises about third-party outcomes in every scenario. If regulator or authority requirements affect your matter, we will talk you through the practical next steps. especially where regulated or sensitive information is involved.

No. The fixed-fee covers the legal work for the agreement itself, including drafting or review and advice on the issues raised by that document. It does not include regulator approval, third-party decisions, technical implementation, security remediation, or ongoing representation after the agreement is completed. Approval depends on the relevant regulator or authority where one is involved, and those external steps sit outside Sprintlaw's control. If your project also needs broader privacy advice, product terms, or implementation support, that would usually be scoped as separate work.

Just submit an enquiry via this page or click the 'get started' button on our website to submit an enquiry. After you've submitted an enquiry, one of our legal consultants will review your enquiry within 1 business day and get in touch to get a better idea of exactly what you are looking for.

Then your legal consultant will send through an email with a bit more information about the services you need, along with a fixed fee quote setting out costs, scope of the service and timing. Have a read through it, and if you're happy with the scope, you can accept and sign our engagement letter online - easy!

Once you've formally accepted, we'll connect you with a specialist lawyer and they will work with you to complete your project. They will contact you by email or phone if they need to get in touch.

Sprintlaw works on fixed-fee pricing wherever possible, so you can review the scope and cost before you decide whether to proceed. For the Data Licence Agreement service, pricing starts from $900.00.

After you enquire, a legal consultant will confirm what is included, the expected timing and whether any extra work is needed before you engage us.

We operate completely online, which means we can help you wherever you are in New Zealand. We have office spaces in Sydney, and in Melbourne, but our use of technology allows our team members to work remotely from around the world. Our legal team are mostly based in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth. We also have a London office for Sprintlaw UK.

Our legal team is made up of experienced lawyers, who are specialists in various areas of law and hold an Australian legal practising certificate. None of our Sprintlaw lawyers are New Zealand qualified lawyers and they do not currently hold a New Zealand practising certificate.

They provide legal services working remotely from Australia via our 'legal consultancy' model, through which (under section 6 and section 35 of the New Zealand Lawyers and Conveyancers Act 2006) our Australian legal team are permitted to provide legal services to New Zealand businesses provided they do not provide services in certain 'reserved' areas of law. You can read our FAQ page to learn a bit more about our 'legal consultancy' model.

Given the strong similarities between Australian and New Zealand law, and the areas of law in which we practice (being small business and startup law), we do not view the fact that our lawyers have not qualified in New Zealand as having any substantive impact on the quality of our service. We are committed to ensuring that we provide high quality, affordable legal services to all our New Zealand clients.

Our legal team have all trained at leading firms, but have left the traditional corporate law world to join us on our mission to create a new and better way of delivering legal services. They have specialist expertise in technology law, intellectual property law, contract drafting and review, corporate law and commercial law.