[OSM-legal-talk] Reliefweb as data source for OSM?

Paul Norman penorman at mac.com
Sun Jun 29 10:12:09 UTC 2014


On 2014-06-29 1:33 AM, Lukas Sommer wrote:
> Hello.
>
> Reliefweb is a service of the United Nations, that contains maps, 
> mostly concerning regions where have been desaster and where 
> humanitairian aid is necessary.
>
> Their permission can be found here: http://reliefweb.int/map_permission
>
> Is it possible to use this for OSM?
>
> Specially 2 points are interesting:
>
> – ReliefWeb maps cannot be used for advertising, marketing or in ways 
> which are inconsistent with the Organization's mission (see “About 
> ReliefWeb” for details).
>
> – All maps must be credited as follows: “Based on OCHA/ReliefWeb”
>
> Is this really acceptable for OSM?

If by use you mean upload content to the API based on it, then yes.

The attribution clause might be a concern, but is unclear enough that it 
might not.

The discriminatory clause prohibiting marketing and "ways that are 
inconsistent" is inherently non-open and incompatible with release under 
any open license. If you're using in the original form, there are 
further issues (prior permission required, etc)

Although not significant, given the above issues, I do note they also 
don't give any permissions for use on mobile devices like Garmins, use 
with audio, or anything else that's not print or online.

If you're aware of any ReliefWeb content that has been imported into 
OSM, please let the Data Working Group know at data at osmfoundation.org 
and we'll look into it.




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