Intellectual Property and Licensing

ISACA Intellectual Property (“IP”) Guidelines

ISACA administers, maintains and enforces Intellectual Property Guidelines designed to facilitate the dissemination and acceptance of ISACA Intellectual Property while also protecting it and the reputation of ISACA and its publications and research worldwide. ISACA’s reputation as a recognized global leader in content that ensures trust in, and value from, information and information systems has led professionals and enterprises to look to ISACA as a trusted provider of guidelines and good practices for governance, management, security, risk management and assurance of IT-based solutions and services; highly valued certifications; education and training; and thought-leading research. As a result, ISACA’s brands have become valuable assets representing the excellence and quality of ISACA's products and services in the global marketplace.

This page provides further details about ISACA’s Intellectual Property Guidelines. However, for any questions not covered below, or to request permission to use ISACA copyrighted material in accordance with this policy, please contact IPinfo@isaca.org.

COBIT 7 Access and Licensing

COBIT 7 is delivered exclusively through the Publishing Platform. COBIT 7 is not available as a downloadable PDF or other downloadable publication.

COBIT 7 is ISACA's current and actively maintained COBIT offering. ISACA's licensing programs, training programs, implementation resources, updates, and support activities are focused on COBIT 7. Organizations considering new deployments, implementations, training initiatives, consulting engagements, or licensing arrangements should use COBIT 7 rather than prior COBIT versions. Prior COBIT versions may be subject to separate licensing terms and may not receive updates, enhancements, or ongoing support.

The access or license required depends on how COBIT 7 will be used. Except for individual reference and professional development use through authorized Publishing Platform access, any use of COBIT 7 involving organizational adoption, implementation, distribution, incorporation into materials, customer-facing deliverables, training, consulting, commercial services, software, AI systems, products, platforms, or other third-party use requires participation in the applicable ISACA licensing program or the execution of an applicable license agreement.

Use Case	Required Access / License
Individual reference, research, professional development and use. Individual access does not authorize organizational adoption or other commercial activities.	Platform access subscription only
Internal organizational adoption, implementation, operationalization, or incorporation into organizational processes or enterprise-wide use.	Enterprise License
Providing consulting, advisory, implementation, or other services to third parties using COBIT 7, where the business has 10 or more personnel	Commercial License
Providing consulting or advisory services to third parties using COBIT 7, where the business has fewer than 10 employees	Consultant Program, subject to applicable program terms
Providing COBIT 7 training to third parties Rights to provide COBIT 7 training, courses, workshops, boot camps, certification preparation, or similar instructional services to third parties are governed exclusively through the Authorized Training Organization ("ATO") Program unless ISACA expressly agrees otherwise in writing.	Participation in the Authorized Training Organization (“ATO”) Network
Academic institutions integrating COBIT 7 into curricula, course content, instructional materials, or other learning resources	Academic License through platform subscription

Platform access alone does not authorize organizational adoption, enterprise deployment, redistribution, consulting, advisory services, implementation services, training, or other use of COBIT 7 in services provided to third parties.

Businesses with fewer than 10 employees may participate in the Consultant Program only for the consulting and advisory rights expressly provided under the applicable program terms. Any training services relating to COBIT 7 must be delivered through participation in the Authorized Training Organization (“ATO”) Network.

Businesses with 10 or more employees that provide consulting, advisory, implementation, or other third-party services using COBIT 7 must obtain a Commercial License.

In the event of a conflict between this page and an applicable executed license agreement, program terms, subscription terms, or ISACA Terms of Use, the terms specifically governing the applicable license or program will control with respect to that license or program.

COBIT Licensing Programs and License Requirements

Academic

Academic institutions, including universities, colleges, schools, and other educational providers, may purchase subscription-based access to COBIT^® 7 through ISACA's authorized publishing platform pursuant to this Academic License. Access is limited to the Academic License holder's faculty, staff, students, and other authorized academic participants and may not be shared with or provided to third parties except as expressly permitted under this Academic License.

Subject to the ISACA Terms of Use and this Academic License, Academic License holders are granted a limited, non-exclusive, non-transferable, revocable license during the applicable subscription term to access and use COBIT 7 for non-commercial educational purposes.

Permitted Academic Uses
Academic License holders may use COBIT 7 in connection with:

• Incorporating COBIT 7 into courses, programs, syllabi, curricula, and educational offerings.
• Developing and providing course materials, learning resources, assignments, case studies, presentations, examinations, and other educational materials that reference or utilize COBIT 7.
• Making limited COBIT 7 content and COBIT 7-derived educational materials available to enrolled students, faculty, instructors, and other authorized academic participants as reasonably necessary to support educational activities.
• Conducting classroom instruction, faculty education, academic research, and student learning activities involving COBIT 7.
• Using worksheets, templates, assessment tools, and other downloadable materials expressly made available by ISACA through the authorized publishing platform.

Restrictions
Academic License holders may use COBIT 7 only for the educational purposes expressly authorized under this Academic License. Academic License holders may not sublicense, assign, transfer, sell, distribute, or provide access to COBIT 7 to any third party except as expressly permitted under this Academic License. Access credentials and subscription rights may not be shared outside the Academic License holder's institution. All other use, including commercial use, is prohibited. All use remains subject to the ISACA Terms of Use and ISACA's applicable intellectual property and licensing terms.

No Commercial Rights
This Academic License does not authorize consulting services, advisory services, implementation services, managed services, commercial training, commercial certification preparation activities, fee-based professional services for third parties, or any other commercial use of COBIT 7.

Reservation of Rights
All rights not expressly granted under this Academic License are reserved by ISACA.

Consultant Program

Eligible consulting businesses may participate in the COBIT^® 7 Consultant Program pursuant to these Consultant Program Terms.

Subject to the ISACA Terms of Use and these Consultant Program Terms, Consultant Program participants are granted a limited, non-exclusive, non-transferable, revocable license during the applicable subscription term to access and use COBIT^® 7 through ISACA's authorized publishing platform in connection with providing professional services to clients.

Eligibility
The Consultant Program is available only to consulting businesses with fewer than ten (10) personnel.

For purposes of determining eligibility, personnel includes all individuals providing services through or on behalf of the consulting business, including employees, contractors, subcontractors, temporary personnel, consultants, and similar workers.

ISACA may request information reasonably necessary to verify eligibility. If a participant no longer satisfies the eligibility requirements, the participant must promptly notify ISACA and cease participation in the Consultant Program unless and until an applicable Commercial License is obtained.

Permitted Consultant Uses
Consultant Program participants may use COBIT^® 7 in connection with:

• consulting and advisory services;
• governance, risk, compliance, audit, assurance, and cybersecurity services;
• assessments, maturity reviews, gap analyses, and benchmarking activities;
• implementation planning and recommendations;
• client training and knowledge-transfer activities that are ancillary to permitted consulting engagements and that do not constitute stand-alone COBIT 7 training, courses, workshops, boot camps, or certification preparation activities; and
• use of worksheets, templates, assessment tools, and other downloadable materials made available through ISACA's authorized publishing platform.

Restrictions
Participation in the Consultant Program is limited to consultants approved by ISACA and does not authorize the distribution of COBIT® 7 content to clients or other third parties or grant any rights in COBIT^® 7 to a participant’s clients. As part of any client engagement requiring access to or use of COBIT^® 7, Consultants must provide the client with the appropriate COBIT® 7 license through publishing platform access vouchers and may not share or extend their own COBIT^® 7 access to the client. Publishing platform access vouchers are available in tiered bundles through ISACA’s enterprise portal. Consultant Program participants may provide clients with reports, assessments, recommendations, analyses, and other work product derived from their use of COBIT^® 7, provided that such work product does not substantially reproduce, distribute, or substitute for COBIT^® 7 content.

Nature of Program
The Consultant Program is a limited exception to ISACA's Commercial License requirements and grants only those rights expressly provided under these Consultant Program Terms, the ISACA Terms of Use, and ISACA's applicable intellectual property and licensing terms.

All rights not expressly granted are reserved by ISACA

Enterprise for Internal Organizational Use

Organizations seeking to adopt, implement, embed, operationalize, incorporate, align with, or otherwise use COBIT 7 as part of their governance, management, risk, assurance, audit, technology, compliance, security, or business practices must enter into an Enterprise License Agreement with ISACA by contacting licensing@isaca.org.

An Enterprise License is required where COBIT 7 will be used for organizational purposes, including, without limitation:

• any organizational adoption, whether enterprise-wide, business-unit-specific, departmental, project-specific, functional-area-specific, or otherwise;
• implementation of COBIT 7 practices, objectives, models, methods, or guidance;
• incorporation of COBIT 7 into internal policies, procedures, controls, frameworks, training materials, governance models, or operating practices;
• internal distribution or sharing of COBIT 7-derived materials beyond the rights available through individual Platform access;
• use by employees, teams, business units, affiliates, or contractors to adopt, implement, operationalize, or institutionalize COBIT 7 on behalf of the organization; or
• use in connection with an internal transformation, audit, assessment, assurance, governance, risk, compliance, or technology-management program.

Enterprise Licenses are subject to the applicable license agreement, including the authorized scope of use, number of users, organizational entities, term, territory, and any other agreed limitations.

Unless expressly stated in the applicable Enterprise License Agreement, license rights are limited to the licensed legal entity and do not automatically extend to affiliates, subsidiaries, parent entities, contractors, or other related organizations.

Commercial

A Commercial License Agreement is required for any business, firm, consultant, trainer, service provider, or other organization that uses COBIT 7 in connection with services provided to third parties and may be obtained by contacting licensing@isaca.org.

A Commercial License is required for the following types of use; however, the specific rights granted are determined by the applicable Commercial License Agreement and are limited to the scope expressly authorized in that agreement:

• consulting or advisory services;
• implementation or deployment services;
• assessment, audit, assurance, maturity-review, benchmarking, or gap-analysis services;
• managed services;
• creation of customer-facing deliverables based on or incorporating COBIT 7;
• use of COBIT 7 in proposals, statements of work, client engagements, or commercial offerings; and
• creation of reports, assessments, maturity reviews, gap analyses, governance evaluations, implementation plans, roadmaps, audit workpapers, recommendations, and other customer-facing deliverables derived from or based upon COBIT 7;
• any other use of COBIT 7 for direct or indirect commercial benefit on behalf of a third party whether provided on a paid, unpaid, bundled, promotional or value-added basis; and
• embedding, incorporating, operationalizing, digitizing, automating, or integrating COBIT 7 content, concepts, objectives, models, guidance, terminology, or derivative materials into software applications, SaaS offerings, platforms, technology products, workflow tools, databases, AI systems, or other commercial offerings;

Artificial Intelligence. Unless expressly authorized by ISACA in writing, COBIT 7 may not be:

• uploaded to public AI systems, public generative AI tools, publicly accessible LLMs or similar technologies;
• used to train, fine-tune, improve, validate, or test AI models;
• used to create AI-generated substitutes for COBIT 7 content;
• used to develop competing frameworks, products, or services; or
• incorporated into commercial AI-enabled products or services.

Use of COBIT 7 within enterprise-authorized AI tools may be permitted only to the extent expressly authorized under the applicable license agreement or other written authorization from ISACA.

Additional Terms. A Platform subscription alone does not grant the right to use COBIT 7 in client services or other commercial offerings.

If a proposed use of COBIT 7 could reasonably fall within multiple licensing categories or if the applicable licensing model is unclear, ISACA will determine the appropriate licensing model based on the nature and scope of the proposed use.

Unauthorized use of COBIT 7 may infringe ISACA's intellectual property rights or violate applicable contractual terms.

FAQs

Do I need a separate license to use COBIT 7?
If you are an individual using COBIT 7 for your own professional reference, professional development or individual work activities, an active subscription or authorized access to the Publishing Platform is sufficient. No additional license is required for individual use.

Can my organization adopt COBIT 7 using individual Platform subscriptions?
No. Individual Platform access does not authorize organization-wide, department-wide, or other internal adoption or implementation of COBIT 7. Organizations seeking to use COBIT 7 as an internal framework, governance model, operating model, assessment method, or organizational standard must obtain an Enterprise License.

Can I use COBIT 7 in my consulting practice?
Not under an individual Platform subscription alone.  A Commercial License or participation in the Consultant Program, if applicable, is required to use COBIT 7 in consulting, advisory, implementation, audit, assessment, training, managed services, or other services provided to clients or third parties. Rights to provide COBIT 7 training to third parties are governed separately through the Authorized Training Organization ("ATO") Network, except for ancillary knowledge-transfer activities expressly permitted under the Consultant Program or otherwise authorized by ISACA in writing.

Is there an option for independent consultants and small consulting firms?
Yes. Consulting businesses with fewer than 10 employees may be eligible for the COBIT Consultant Program subject to the applicable program terms and approval.

What if my consulting business has 10 or more employees?
Consulting businesses with 10 or more employees must obtain a Commercial License by contacting licensing@isaca.org.

Can I download a copy of COBIT 7?
No. COBIT 7 is available only through the Publishing Platform. It is not offered as a downloadable PDF or downloadable publication.