> > Am I right to assume that this policy, in particular the definition of > "open data" at No 6, is sufficiently clear so as to use the data without > further permission? > > No, it's not. It is a 'policy', not a license. The site says " City of Houston GIS(COHGIS) data is prepared and made available for general reference purposes only", and you (OSM) would be re-publishing and redistributing. Sometimes, GIS-ish data is supplied to cities by vendors with specific terms of use and redistribution, and those vendors are allowed to sell the data to anyone else ( cost reduction strategy ).
>From two Open Data Portals: *City of Seattle* has a notice in the dataset metadata:Terms of Use -* Access constraints: *GISUSER_RO Account Access, Public access.*Use constraints: *Reproduction/distribution of GIS data for commercial purposes is prohibited, unless expressly authorized through a separate licensing agreement with The City of Seattle. Public use. *King County*: King County data are made available with the understanding that they shall be used exclusively by the obtainer or his/her authorized agents. Digital products may not be reproduced or redistributed in any form or by any means without the express written authorization of King County. ( both of these jurisdictions readily granted OSM's request, BTW ) Always ask.
_______________________________________________ legal-talk mailing list legal-talk@openstreetmap.org https://lists.openstreetmap.org/listinfo/legal-talk
