I truly appreciate both of your answers. Thank you very much. Andrew, I especially appreciate you trying to include some good news, :)
So I guess my app breaks the Terms of Service. I'm just going to go ahead an accept it and move on. I have a follow up question or two if you don't mind, and I am open to answers that are Opinion or Fact, but can you please specify which you're giving? thanks 1) Would a Premiere License solve all my TOS issues? If not an "absolute" yes: Does anyone know if Google has been known to make special exceptions to accommodate the needs of their Premiere Customers or is that unheard of? 2) I know this is a Google Maps Forum. BUT. I've already gone down the road of trying to switch my entire site over to using Bing Maps instead. Because their TOS is more lenient and their Premiere license is half the price. However, for whatever reason their API does not seem to support the feature of having a pin that sticks to a point no matter what. In other words, if I have a custom pin, map a location, and then zoom in. The pin will not Zoom In in sync with the map. Causing the pin to be displaced. -> I'm digressing -> The question here is whether or not anyone here knows of an alternative to Google Maps API that has a more lenient TOS that works well with me. I've been down the OpenStreetMap road and it's not pretty so that's probably not a good one either... On Nov 5, 2:38 pm, Andrew Leach <[email protected]> wrote: > On 5 November 2011 20:34, Drew Johnston <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > > > > > > > > Hi! I have a question regarding Google Maps API and mapping services > > in general that has been KILLING me for the past year and I would > > truly appreciate if someone can put this to rest for me. It’s in > > regard to Google’s Terms of Service and what exactly they allow and > > don’t allow with their free API. > > > I have a project I’m trying to get off the ground, you can see it > > here:http://bit.ly/lJfupZ > > > Quick explanation of what the site does: You can create Location Maps, > > which are commonly used maps on Film and Television Production Shoots > > (but also good for planning any kind of event). A picture is worth a > > thousand words:http://bit.ly/s6k7xi > > > The user is given the ability to map a location. Once they’ve chosen > > the location they can add text boxes, pins, driving directions, upload > > images and edit colors all to create a nice Location Map like the one > > in link above. When user is finished, they are given the ability to > > download and/or email their map as a PDF (as shown in link). > > If you search the group for "pdf" you'll find that generally this is > recognised as a derivative work and prohibited under 10.1.3(a) -- the > precise term might vary over time as they are renumbered. > > > 1) Opinions (Or definite answers) as to whether or not I am safe under > > Google’s free API TOS > > Currently, I reckon the answer is No. > > PDFs are a derivative work. > > The example screenshot shows the Google logo being partially obscured > and that's a no-no (see 8.5 and 9.4(a)). > > Your directions (assuming these are from Google's directions service) > don't include the copyright attribution (see 8.5). > > > 2) Help on getting in touch with a real life Google Maps PERSON who > > can give me a real answer. > > They won't. No-one has ever provided Google's legal opinion apart from > a few non-authoritative personal opinions ["I reckon you should be ok" > or something similar]. > > Just so this isn't a complete downer, it *would* be possible to store > all the client data and provide a link which reconstructs it. This > could [probably would] be a code for a database entry rather like > bit.ly does; or a url querystring which allows the client to > reconstruct everything. An example of such a url > ishttp://www.achurchnearyou.com/parishfinder.php?=51.3285,-2.2925,13,51... > -- but I reckon you'd need to store a reference to all the separate > elements and have the server reconstruct the page. How the user treats > this with printing or whatever is up to them. They might choose to > create their own PDF and thus break the Terms, but how will Google > know? You are right to be concerned that Google may pull the plug on > your service if you are seen to do so, or provide an easy route for > others to. > > An advantage to emailing a link rather than a complete pdf is that a > user isn't confronted with downloading a large document on what might > be an unsuitable client like a smartphone on a dodgy data connection: > he can choose when to view the map. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Google Maps API V2" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/google-maps-api?hl=en.
