[od-discuss] New IMF license for data re-use

Thu Jan 15 22:50:11 UTC 2015

Hi everyone,

In december IMF announced that they would release their data openly.

They have now release a Special Terms section on use of their data. I would
be interested to hear the views here of the list?

Full section here (relevant section pasted below):
http://www.imf.org/external/terms.htm

On a side note, NRGI has argued that the fiscal models at IMF
<http://www.resourcegovernance.org/news/blog/modeling-masses-why-imf-should-open-fari-model-public-use>
should be opened as well, though until we've had no luck with that.

Below the Special Terms on data:
SPECIAL TERMS AND CONDITIONS PERTAINING TO THE USE OF DATA

Use of published statistical data which is made available through the IMF
Sites shall be subject to the following special terms. For the purposes of
these special terms, the term "Data" refers to any published statistical
data produced by the IMF, that is not owned by a third-party. In
particular, "Data" refers to the following:

   - IMF E-library Data, including but not limited to, International
   Financial Statistics (IFS), Balance of Payments (BOP), Direction of Trade
   (DOT) and Government Finance Statistics (GFS) (
   http://elibrary-data.imf.org/DataExplorer.aspx);

   - World Economic Outlook database (
   http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/weo/2014/02/weodata/index.aspx);

   - Primary Commodity Prices (
   http://www.imf.org/external/np/res/commod/index.aspx);

   - IMF Financial Data (http://www.imf.org/external/data.htm#financial);

   - Exchange Rate Data (http://www.imf.org/external/data.htm#exchange); and

   - And any other statistical data available on www.imf.org that
   explicitly identify the International Monetary Fund as the source.

The policy of free access and free reuse does not imply a right to obtain
confidential or any unpublished underlying data over which the IMF reserves
all rights. Notwithstanding the general prohibition on the commercial use
of IMF content, Users may download, extract, copy, create derivative works,
publish, distribute and sell Data obtained from IMF Sites, subject to the
following conditions:

   - When Data is distributed or reproduced, it must appear accurately and
   attributed to the IMF as the source, e.g. "Source: International Monetary
   Fund.". This source attribution requirement is attached to any use of IMF
   Data, whether obtained directly from the IMF or from a User. Users who make
   IMF Data available to other users through any type of distribution or
   download environment agree to take reasonable efforts to communicate and
   promote compliance by their End Users with these terms.

   - The Data is provided to Users "as is" and without warranty of any
   kind, either express or implied, including, without limitation, warranties
   of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose and noninfringement.

   - If IMF Data is sold by Users as a standalone product; sellers must
   inform purchasers that the Data is available free of charge from the IMF.

   - Users shall not infringe upon the integrity of the Data and in
   particular shall refrain from any act of alteration of the Data that
   intentionally affects its nature or accuracy. If the Data is materially
   transformed by the User, this must be stated explicitly along with the
   required source citation.

All other terms set forth in the general terms and conditions shall
continue to apply to use of IMF Data.
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