# Perpetual license

URL: https://sellmydatatoai.net/glossary/perpetual-license

A perpetual license grants rights to use a dataset with no end date, so the buyer keeps those rights after any payment period finishes.

A perpetual license is a license with no expiry date: the buyer keeps the right to use the licensed data, and anything trained on it, indefinitely. It can be exclusive or non-exclusive, and it can still end for breach if the contract says so.

## Why do AI buyers ask for perpetual rights?

AI buyers ask for perpetual rights because a trained model cannot practically give data back. Daniel Goldberg of the US law firm Frankfurt Kurnit Klein & Selz made this point in October 2026: once data has been used to train a model, it cannot practically be pulled back out.

[Polyshares](https://sellmydatatoai.net/data-buyers/polyshares) is one buyer that licenses on these terms. Its four published deals, from $110,000 to $450,000, were all perpetual and exclusive. [Troveo](https://sellmydatatoai.net/data-buyers/troveo), by contrast, offers time-limited licenses paid through revenue share.

## What can a seller negotiate instead of perpetual rights?

A seller can negotiate a fixed term for the raw data, with deletion at the end, while the buyer keeps the models it has already trained. Price perpetual rights higher than term rights. [AI data licensing explained](https://sellmydatatoai.net/guides/ai-data-licensing-explained) and the [agreement checklist](https://sellmydatatoai.net/guides/ai-data-licensing-agreement-checklist) set out the clauses.