Licensing Working Group/Minutes/2026-05-11
OpenStreetMap Foundation, Licensing Working Group (LWG) - Agenda & Minutes
11 May 2026, 18:00 UTC
Participants
- Kathleen Lu (Chairing)
- Dermot McNally
- Tom Lee
Absent
- Simon Hughes
Administrative
Adoption of past minutes
- 2026-04-13 Approved
Minutes by Dorothea Kazazi.
Any updates on reported attribution cases?
Reports in OTRS:
- Ticket#2021081210000057 printed maps with false copyright
- Ticket#2022011910000082 interparcel.com: Dermot Emailed them on 10th Nov, no reply
- Ticket#2022012610000149 https://poster.printmijnstad.nl/editor/city
- Ticket#2022033010000217
- complaint that Aberdeen city council may not be attributing correctly – https://www.aberdeencity.gov.uk/news/consultation-starts-street-improvements-ashgrove-road
- Note that Aberdeen credits Ordnance Survey, so possible OS is using OSM as one of many sources and the full attribution is not getting carried through
- Ticket#2022032710000125 - https://www.evri.com/find-a-parcelshop
- Hermes UK changed name to evri. So this is an old issue.
- Ticket#2022062610000078 -
- Härryda, Sweden, uses OpenStreetMap for an app they developed. Inside the app there are no license references to OSM.
- You can see the app on the Google Apps store here: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=se.harryda.medborgar.app&gl=US
- Ticket#2021120810000146 mondialrelay.fr not attributing correctly
- Ticket#2022120510000177 — Club Vosgien complaint – any reply?
Board items
hotelmap.com
| Email shared by the LWG |
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| Dear LWG,
We sent this notice to Hotelmap.com a couple of weeks ago. We got no notice from them. I see this case as specifically problematic, as Hotelmap.com is deliberately changing Mapbox's attribution to hide OSM and add their own. I noticed the issue, as it's the official booking site for the Geospatial World Forum. How should we proceed with it? Can we send a more direct message? Best, Dear team at Hotelmap.com, We have noticed you are using OpenStreetMap-based tiles for the map background. Based on your page, it appears you are using Mapbox (I have checked this page https://hotelmap.com/MG968). However, using OSM data through a third party still requires citing the source of the map style and map data. We have noticed that this attribution is not present in Hotelmap.com. Mapbox provides guidance on its website (https://docs.mapbox.com/help/dive-deeper/attribution/) on how to attribute a map using its libraries and styles, including OSM-based ones. In addition, OpenStreetMap has a copyright page with more information on how to cite OSM data-based maps: https://www.openstreetmap.org/copyright. If you require any clarification, we would be happy to assist. Héctor Ochoa Ortiz¹ |
Hotelmap.com was brought to LWG's attention by Héctor Ochoa Ortiz (OSMF board member). During a conference, he noticed that the hotels.com has an OSM-based map without attribution. Tom Lee forwarded the email to legal@hotels.com. No reply as of today.
Mapbox has fixed their report attribution form, and is now receiving reports about missing attribution.
Action item
Tom Lee to follow up again.
Queries to legal-questions
Large copyright infringement (Dopper - water taps) - Ticket#2025040310000645
| Email shared by the LWG | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| I am a long-time french OSM contributor, and I've been using Google Maps lately (I know, it's bad) for a hiking trip. I found out that a brand named "Dopper" (https://www.dopper.com/) has imported 130.000+ water tap POI from OpenStreetMap on Google Maps in Europe, in order to promote their water bottles.
Although I can't confirm that the 130 000 POIs have been "stolen" from OSM, 100% of those that I have checked have the exact same coordinates (even when the water tap doesn't exist anymore) on Google Maps and OSM. Here are a few examples:
Of course, they also use an OSM-based map on their website without attribution (https://www.dopper.com/products/tap-map), which reference all the water taps (same coordinates than OSM). Even if I can't prove that Dopper has been adding all of these water taps to the map, every Google Maps POI has a link to their website, and they have communicated on this marketing campaign on internet : https://localyse.eu/cases/localyse-helps-dopper-to-make-water-taps-visible-in-google-maps/ / https://weekend.levif.be/partenaires/dopper-au-top-5-faits-surprenants-sur-votre-gourde-durable-preferee/ / https://lehub.laposte.fr/la-marque-de-gourdes-dopper-ajoute-sur-google-maps-les-points-deau-potable. Were you aware of this Thank you in advance for your help, 15 June - Dermot sent letter to Dopper 11 August: Dermot’s draft letter for Google (version 2): Our contributor is concerned that many of the locations in question have been sourced from OpenStreetMap, citing identical geographical co-ordinates to many decimal places. This would represent a breach of OpenStreetMap’s Open Database Licence (ODbL), which requires attribution of source and sharealike. We assume that the import of such data into Google Maps would additionally violate your own requirements in terms of permitted data sources. We have made a good faith attempt to contact Dopper so that they can address these issues, but the available communications channels have not resulted in a response. We therefore feel that it is appropriate to make you aware of the issue so that you can act appropriately to ensure that both your terms and ours are being upheld. To illustrate the apparent OSM-sourcing, our contributor provided some examples of locations with matching co-ordinates:
We would be happy to be of any assistance possible in this matter. Kathleen emailed Eric Dickinson (product counsel for Google Maps), who replied that he would look into it. Previous action item: Dermot to check with original mapper on providing additional examples, if possible. Previous action item: Kathleen to provide copy of analysis to Google.' Done on 25 January 2026. Dermot had replied to the original correspondent asking for additional examples of problematic data. Dermot tried to find Dopper's contact information - they have not responded to his message via their webform. Previous action items
Google seems to have removed Dopper as a source | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| LWG internal reference: https://otrs.openstreetmap.org/otrs/index.pl?Action=AgentTicketZoom;TicketID=65356 |
Google seems to have removed Dopper as a source.
Dermot to follow up with Dopper regarding sharealike of non-OSM water tap sources listed on Dopper’s map.
Dermot sent emails to several potential addresses at Dopper and the CEO’s email address did not bounce.
EVRI delivery company using OSM without attribution? - Ticket#2026010610000189
| Email shared by the LWG |
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| is this substantial or not
(Screenshot attached) Their main map is missing attribution: https://www.evri.com/find-a-parcelshop/#/ They are using these service: https://www.vectorine.com/ Previous action item: Tom Lee to reach out to Vectorine regarding compliance to ODbL, and if that doesn’t work, to Evri. |
| LWG internal reference: https://otrs.openstreetmap.org/otrs/index.pl?Action=AgentTicketZoom;TicketID=77004 |
Timeline:
- Mar 31 Evri acknowledges the missing attribution issue, communicated by Tom Lee.
- Apr 13: Tom Lee emails Evri, but does not receive a response.
Evri was not a Mapbox customer. The consultant Vectorine claims that an additional party is involved, but refuses to name them. Vectorine is probably a one-person company, providing custom map implementations.
Suggestions
- Tom to write an escalation email to EVRI and have it sent from an OSMF email address, to give it more institutional weight.
- Guillaume Rischard (former board member) might be able to send it.
- Dani Waltersdorfer (OSMF Secretary) and Hector Ochoa Ortiz (OSMF Deputy Secretary) could also send the email.
On sending emails from legal@
- Preference to send the email from legal@openstreetmap.org (group email address), but probably not possible without configuration.
- In order for LWG members to send from legal@ it might be necessary for all LWG members to have an @osmfoundation.org email address, which will have to be paid for.
- Suggestion: Have a single LWG member have access and reply privileges to legal@
- That creates accountability, but also problems.
Action item
Tom Lee to draft a follow up and try to forward relevant communications to EVRI. He will send the email to Guillaume, as he has an osmfoundation.org address.
Copyright infringement of OSM data on Adobe Stock via legal@
| Email shared by the LWG |
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| Dear Licence Working Group, In the Italian community we've noticed that a user on adobe stock posts images from OpenStreetMap data under payment and without attribution to OpenStreetMap, we would like your opinion on how to move and how to proceed to request a takedown to Adobe for the violation, and also your involvement if needed in any way. |
Issue
Portfolio of around 40 map images from OSM data on Adobe Stock, missing attribution to OSM.. Issue identified by Italian mappers, who have provided a GitHub thread with a compilation of screenshots and links.
Aim
Get the portfolio owner to add OSM attribution to the images. Kathleen did not find contact information for the owner of the portfolio,in order to notify them.
Suggestion
LWG to file a DMCA report to adobe on behalf of the community, rather than having individual mappers do so . DMCA filers are required to provide a physical address, making filing unsuitable for individual community members.
On the DMCA filing process and potential response Adobe's instructions allow reporting an entire portfolio by submitting a sample set of URLs, rather than filing per image.
- Adobe will remove the content and forward the DMCA notice to the portfolio owner, notifying them about who made the claim.
- The portfolio owner may
- reach out to the LWG
- counterclaim. In that case, Adobe would put the portfolio back up. The LWG will get their contact information and could contact them about attribution or sue them.
- give up, which is common when people receive DMCA notices. Adobe will probably not try to assess the merits of the claim and have lawyers look at it at first pass, as they are not in a position to verify the claim.
On cartography
- The portfolio images appear to be variations of the same style,
- This is probably not Mapbox cartography.
- It might be the creator’s own cartographic style or Carto.
Other points mentioned
- If the images contained attribution to OSM, the LWG would be fine with them, as they are produced works.
- OSM probably doesn't wanna pursue the route of asserting cartography rights.
- Kathleen Lu is a copyright expert and deals with such claims once per week.
Action item
Kathleen to file the report to Adobe.
Any other business
South Korea - dataset from the Korean Public Data Portal
| Email shared by the LWG |
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| The dataset is available via the Korean Public Data Portal: https://www.data.go.kr/en/index.do
Here is the specific dataset page: https://www.data.go.kr/en/data/15097605/openapi.do Kathleen to write back to request confirmation that 이용허락범위 제한 없음 means [제0유형]. Done April 13. |
Status: No update as of May 11.
Canada: Coquitlam Open Government License compatibility - Ticket#2026041110000011
| Email shared by the LWG |
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| I’m looking to have the Coquitlam Open Government License added to the Canada wiki page.
The license can be found here: https://www.coquitlam.ca/894/Open-Government-Licence It does not differ significantly from the Ottawa OGL, apart from minor formatting or order of sentences. |
| LWG internal reference: https://otrs.openstreetmap.org/otrs/index.pl?Action=AgentTicketZoom;TicketID=81836;ArticleID=212167 |
The Coquitlam license was accepted, as it is essentially identical to the British OGL with the city's name substituted.
Action item
Kathleen to reply and add. Done May 11.
Canada: West Vancouver OGL2 license compatibility - Ticket#2026041710000019
| Email shared by the LWG |
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| Hello, I hope this email finds you well. |
| LWG internal reference: https://otrs.openstreetmap.org/otrs/index.pl?Action=AgentTicketZoom;TicketID=82232 |
The West Vancouver OGL2 license was accepted.
Action item
Kathleen to reply and add. Done May 11
dbsh.de data processing agreement request - Ticket#2026042810000374
| Email shared by the LWG |
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| Can someone read the German in this screenshot?
Guten Tag, <screenshot> Wie kann ich hier weiter verfahren? |
| LWG internal reference: https://otrs.openstreetmap.org/otrs/index.pl?Action=AgentTicketZoom;TicketID=82919 |
dbsh.de
- uses OSM on their internship map: https://praktikumskarte.junger-dbsh.de/
- probably used an AI-powered privacy-compliance tool, used internally by the company, which generated recommendations.
Action taken
Kathleen replied to the Data Processing agreement (DPA) enquiry, based on the feedback from Tom Hummel and Dermot McNally. The draft message was shared on LWG Signal channel.
See the [[Privacy_Policy|Privacy Policy], especially #Data_we_receive_automatically.
OSMF does not provide Data Processing agreements – they should use a service provider. E.g., Mapbox has a DPA. Personal data (PD) received through tile usage requires no consent.
Kathleen responded per Tom Hummel’s recommendation using DPA template language.
Redacted topic 81957
2026 LWG meeting times
Jan 12, at 18:00 UTC
Feb 09, at 18:00 UTC
Mar 09, at 18:00 UTC (US switch Mar 8, Europe switch Mar 29) (11am PDT/2pm EDT for US attendees)
Apr 20, at 17:00 UTC
May 11, at 17:00 UTC
Jun 08, at 17:00 UTC
Jul 13, at 17:00 UTC
Aug 17, at 17:00 UTC
Sep 14, at 17:00 UTC
Oct 19, at 17:00 UTC
Nov 16, at 18:00 UTC (same as normal hours for everyone)
Dec 14, at 18:00 UTC
Meeting adjourned 60 minutes after start.