[OSM-legal-talk] Fwd: using OSM in our commercial application

Mayeul Kauffmann mayeul.kauffmann at free.fr
Mon May 14 23:21:37 BST 2012


Hi,

Le dimanche 13 mai 2012 à 18:47 +0400, Алексей Бадьянов a écrit :
> Dear legal talkers,
> 
> we are currently developing Scheduling software that should show vehicle routes and GPS positions on the map.
> Can we use Open Street Map for this in case we are not opening the sources to the public?

The question seems clear enough to me.
Please note that this is not a legal advice (just a forum of users).

You will find answers to many of your questions here:
http://http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Legal_FAQ
In particular:
"If I have data derived from OSM data, do I have to distribute it?
The licence does not force you to distribute or make any data available.
But if you do choose to distribute it, or anything derived from it, it
must be under the same licence terms as the OSM data."

http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Common_licence_interpretations
"I want to use OSM data with my GPS routing/mapping/other application.
Do I have licence the application under the OSM licence?
If the application is separate and independent, you do not need to
licence it under the OSM licence. However, if you distribute OSM derived
data with the application, that must be distributed under the OSM
licence. " (note the warning: "The interpretations expressed on this
page are the opinions of their contributors, and may be disputed by some
OSM mappers and copyright holders.")


My understanding is as follows:
Probably, for your application, you are going to do two things:
1- build a software (copyrights and license are not at all affected by
the fact that you use OSM data). When you say "the sources", if you mean
the source code of the application, then you are in this case: just use
OSM data without giving away your application source code. The licence
is meant to facilitate commercial uses of the data.

2- convert/transform/improve OSM data for your application. As long as
the new data remains within your company, data rights are not at all
affected by the fact that you use OSM data, so you do not have to give
anything. If you distribute modified/combined data, then there are some
cases where you'll have to give some rights to the recipients of the
data (but it is not possible to say more from what you say).

Hope this helps,
Mayeul

> 
> many thanks for you help
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