Seeking assistance with attribution

General talk
1

Hi,

I work for a government agency and intend to use OpenStreetMap data - and I am confused with what is required for the attribution.

I intend to produce a large number of static PDF reports (~2000), each with a 500x600 pixel map (.png format). The map is simple, and shows 1 polygon sitting on top of the OpenStreetMap tiles.

I do not know exactly what needs to be written, and Iā€™d like to get this right. Please forgive me, this is my first time using open data and needing to attribute it.

When I look at https://www.openstreetmap.org/copyright it seems ā€œĀ© OpenStreetMap.org contributorsā€ would be acceptable - but it also >suggests< to refer readers to opendatacommons.org, also. Is this required?

When I look at https://wiki.osmfoundation.org/wiki/Licence/Attribution_Guidelines ā€¦ it says, ā€¦ a whole lot. I wish it gave examples for me to copy and paste :slight_smile: But, it refers to the ā€œĀ© OpenStreetMap.org contributorsā€-style attribution as historical.

Currently, I have this paragraph immediately below the 500x600 map:

I hope and think that this is acceptable, but ā€¦ am I missing something? Have I included too much? Could this be written in a shorter form and still be acceptable?

2

Hi joelsie68, have a look around at the right hand corners of publicist maps or ask the legal specialist at your concern, just to be shure.
But IMHO ā€˜Ā© OpenStreetMap.org contributorsā€™ would do just as you suggested.

3

Your attribution looks acceptable to me, but it can probably be shorter if you prefer.

Essentially, you need to include both

  • the attribution to OpenStreetMap (which can be either ā€œOpenStreetMap contributorsā€ or just ā€œOpenStreetMapā€), and
  • the license of the data.

In digital formats, you can replace the second point (the license information) with a link to osm.org/copyright ā€“ which is why you rarely see the license at opendatacommons mentioned in real-world examples. But if you cannot (or do not) provide a link to osm.org/copyright, you need to include it.

4

Thank you for your replies :slight_smile:

As the PDFā€™s are intended to be printed as well as viewed digitally, I want to be safe and avoid using ā€œlinksā€ to result in less text.

Do you think this works? Or have I shortened it too much, now?

5

Use