[Talk-GB] Fwd: Open Government Licence (Public sector information) [UNCLASSIFIED]

[Rob Nickerson]

Dear All,

The "can you / can't you" Ordnance Survey OS OpenData takes a step in the
right direction. As previously noted we were unclear whether the additional
clauses OS added to the standard Open Government License caused any issues
for OSM. A clarification from OS cleared this up for data released as part
of their OpenData product suite, but it was unclear if this extended to
data released by Local Authorities (e.g. Worcestershire Public Rights of
Way), which are not part of this product suite.

I have therefore put the question to Office of Public Sector Information
(OPSI), who are part of The National Archives (i.e. the owners of the text
of the Open Gov License). See below.

Summary: The additional clause does not override the interoperability with
the Open Data Commons Attribution Licence (which in turn is interoperable
with ODC-OdBL. Looks like we have everything we need now to put this issue
to rest?

Regards,
Rob

p.s. What is the effect on CodePoint


 == Communication 1 ==
ENQUIRY DETAIL: OS OpenData is offered under the "OS OpenData License" [1]
which comprises the standard "Open Government License" together with an
additional requirement to maintain attributions on sub-licensed data. This
additional requirement means the data cannot be used as widely as other
Government Open Data, creates additional burdens on data users, and
potentially means the data cannot be mixed with data-sets licensed under
the Open Database License (ODbL) [2]. Furthermore, Local Authorities now
use this licence thus making the first paragraph inaccurate.

Can you kindly confirm whether the OS licence is compatible with ODbL.

[1] http://www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/docs/licences/os-opendata-licence.pdf
[2] http://opendatacommons.org/licenses/odbl/

 == Reply 1 ==
Thank you for your email enquiry dated October 14th, 2012.  As it states in
the licence terms and conditions the OS Open Data Licence  is " fully
interoperable with the Open Data Commons Attribution Licence".

I hope that information will be helpful to you.

Yours sincerely

Judy Nokes
Information Policy Adviser

 == Communication 2 ==
Thanks for the reply. Although the statement does appear in the Open
Government License (OGL), which is the bases of the Ordnance Survey
OpenData Licence (OS-ODL), it is unclear to me whether the additional terms
that Ordnance Survey have added, override this clause.

Let me provide some background: In April 2010 Ordnance Survey started to
release data under a product suite called OS "OpenData", which was licensed
under the OS-ODL. At the time it was unclear whether this was compatible
with the Open Database License (ODbL) we use for OpenStreetMap.org.
Clarification was sought from OS and provided in the form of [1] below.
Note that we never heard back from Royal Mail, and thus we currently do not
make use of the CodePoint dataset released under OS-ODL.

[1] http://article.gmane.org/gmane.comp.gis.openstreetmap.region.gb/6516

Since then, many Local Authorities have started to release their own data
under the OS-ODL. These share the same license, but are not part of the
"OpenData" product suite with which the exemption applies. I am therefore
seeking clarification as to whether this exemption can be considered to
apply to all datasets released under OS-ODL, or just those datasets that
form part of the "OpenData" product.

On a related note, I am also wishing to draw to your attention to the fact
that the first paragraph of the OS-ODL should now be changed to reflect the
fact that there are now datasets that use this license but are not part of
the "OpenData" product suite and are not hosted on Ordnance Survey's
website. Ideally Local Authorities and the Ordnance Survey should be
encouraged to use the standard Open Government License.

Any clarification you can provide would be much appreciated.

 == Reply 2 ==

 I can advise that the additional terms added by Ordnance Survey do not
override this clause.

** **

Regards ****

** **

***Judy Nokes*
*Information Policy Adviser*

** **

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Dragonfly House****

2 Gilders Way****

Norwich ****

NR3 1UB****

Tel:  01603 553223****

Fax: 01603 553227****


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