Licensing Working Group/Minutes/2026-06-08
OpenStreetMap Foundation, Licensing Working Group (LWG) - Agenda & Minutes
8 June 2026, 18:00 UTC
Participants
- Dermot McNally
- Tom Lee
Absent
- Kathleen Lu
- Simon Hughes
Administrative
Adoption of past minutes
- 2026-05-11 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. Best, Héctor 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). We are happy that you use OpenStreetMap-based tiles in your application and welcome your use of them through a third-party service like Mapbox. 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 |
Tom has tried emailing again - no response. Found more email addresses, using Claude, and emailed them as well.
Suggestion: The board to send a letter to their registered agents in London. Comment that we haven’t run out of options yet.
Point redacted after request.
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. Contact informationDopper B.V. Dermot might have emailed service@dopper.nl or info@dopper.nl and got redirected to the webform. Will check.
Other points mentioned during discussion
Previous action items
Google seems to have removed Dopper as a source | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| LWG internal reference: View ticket #65356 |
Update: no reply to Dermot’s email to CEO. Other email addresses have bounced. Suggestion: Send a paper letter.
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: View ticket #77004 |
TomLee to draft a letter to be sent by Kathleen.
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. Kathleen to report to Adobe – completed and reported items removed, confirmed May 17. |
Adobe has taken the content down.
Any other business
RiskAgri - Ticket#2026051310000426
| Email shared by the LWG |
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| Dear Sir or Madam,
We are contacting you to inform you about the use of data from the OpenStreetMap project as part of the development of our application, RiskAgri.fr. RiskAgri is a tool designed to support farmers in managing natural risks. The map interface enables users to locate plots and visualize analysis results. Our use of OpenStreetMap data includes:
Please find attached a presentation of RiskAgri and a methodology document. We remain available for any feedback, comments, or recommendations you may have. Note from Kathleen: The PDF attribution looks great. As for the website the attribution is behind a click, but they are attributing nine categories of sources, so it seems reasonable... |
| LWG internal reference: View ticket #83819 |
What they're doing seems to be fine, and the fact that they are getting in touch with us is a good sign as well.
Canada: British Columbia municipalities whose OGL compatibility with ODbL is unconfirmed - Ticket#2026052510000056
| Email shared by the LWG |
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I noticed a few entries on the Canada Wiki page have not yet been confirmed by the LWG, and many municipalities are missing. I've gone through and found the municipalities with open data portals, compiling them below for review.
Derived from OGL-BC
Derived from OGL-Ottawa
Derived from OGL-Canada 2.0Please let me know if any further information is needed.' |
| LWG internal reference: View ticket #84498 |
Dermot read the ones he could. With the exception of thosethat error out, they're probably all okay.
Revelstoke:
- They link to their rationale where they list out their values and how they got to the conclusion to adopt the blanket BC license.
- Their website has a classic ArcGIS data catalog page, with the default “request permission to use”
Other points mentioned
- Related pages https://osmfoundation.org/wiki/OGL_Canada_and_local_variants
- At least two with non-BC derived licenses.
Action item
Dermot to reply that the licences look good, except one which one was not accessible and Revelstoke, where it is suggested to check with the municipality that all datasets, including those displaying "Request permission," are covered under the BC Open Government Licence.
Redacted topic 81957
Kathleen replied - waiting to see if they come back.
Takedown request concerning bike trail data
Minutes redacted after request. The subject was initially redacted as well, but as of 2026-10 the topic is public.
- 2026-07 Canada: Legal dispute over cycling trail and Grant authority to three directors to brief Arvay Finlay LLP
- 2026-09 Canadian lawsuit
- Board resolution: 2026/Res14 Authority to hire Canadian counsel to deal with legal threats over copyright of biking trail in Canada
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.