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Nine of Hong Kong's 18 districts (those in the New Territories) are missing on OSM. Is it okay to copy them from the Hong Kong government's census maps (2001, 2015) even though they're copyrighted? It would be difficult to survey them, especially as the maritime boundaries aren't physically marked. (I would copy them from the maps on Wikimedia Commons, but they're missing the maritime boundaries.)

asked 11 Aug '16, 08:11

jc86035's gravatar image

jc86035
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accept rate: 0%


No, it is not okay to copy information from copyrighted maps to OSM. Never, no matter how difficult it is to obtain this information.

Try to search for a freely available source or ask the government to make their data freely available or to give OSM special permissions. Alternatively try add these borders to OSM by estimating them.

permanent link

answered 11 Aug '16, 08:32

scai's gravatar image

scai ♦
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accept rate: 23%

If I were to email the HKSAR government asking for permission, how would I provide proof that they had allowed me to use their data under the ODbL?

(11 Aug '16, 08:42) jc86035
1

Ideally by making the response including the permission public. There is a wiki page called Permissions. Unfortunately the English version is completely empty (is this kind of information stored elsewhere?) but you can take a look at the German version to get the idea.

The real tricky part is that it is strictly speaking not sufficient to just get a permission. Additionally you have to make sure that the person who gave you this permission is also permitted to grant this permission.

(11 Aug '16, 10:52) scai ♦
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question asked: 11 Aug '16, 08:11

question was seen: 2,130 times

last updated: 11 Aug '16, 10:52

NOTICE: help.openstreetmap.org is no longer in use from 1st March 2024. Please use the OpenStreetMap Community Forum