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

Wed Jan 21 05:57:08 UTC 2015

+1 to Diane's comments here - it really seems the IMF are undermining the
excellent "spirit" with the "letter" of their license. I think this
definitely could be problematic in terms of OD compliance so worth a proper
evaluation.

@Herb / Mike: is proper process here to open an issue (
https://github.com/okfn/opendefinition/issues) in order to track this?

Rufus

On 20 January 2015 at 17:17, Diane Peters <diane at creativecommons.org> wrote:

> Unfortunate they haven't adopted a policy similar to that used by World
> Bank for data, which is one of the best I've seen from an IGO so far,
> though they do have this provision:  "The World Bank will prosecute, to
> the fullest extent of the law, any use of World Bank Materials in a manner
> that falsifies, misrepresents, disparages or fraudulently uses the
> Materials."
>
> Here, the noncommercial limitation, "accuracy" requirement, and the vague
> requirement to use reasonable efforts to promote compliance by third
> parties are the more problematic clauses IMO.
>
> For reference:
> WB terms of use summary for data:
> http://data.worldbank.org/summary-terms-of-use
> In full:
> http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/0,,contentMDK:22547097~pagePK:50016803~piPK:50016805~theSitePK:13,00.html
>
>
>
> On Thu, Jan 15, 2015 at 2:50 PM, Anders Pedersen <anderspeders at gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
>> 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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>>
>
>
> --
> Diane M. Peters
> General Counsel, Creative Commons
> Portland, Oregon
> http://creativecommons.org/staff#dianepeters
>
>
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-- 

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