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

Thu Jan 22 18:03:43 UTC 2015

Hi Andrew, all,

Just wanted to add a big +1 to the suggestion of a blog post with a response re. the limitations and issues with the IMF-license. I am not a license expert, but would be glad to contribute if useful.

Best,
Anders

> On Jan 21, 2015, at 10:38 AM, Andrew Stott <andrew.stott at dirdigeng.com> wrote:
> 
> Christine Lagarde announced on 18 November that all IMF online data would “free of charge to everyone” [1].  A number of us asked at the time whether it would be “open” [2].
>  
> The IMF terms and conditions [3] are a bit confusing. For instance it’s not clear whether the “personal, non-commercial usage” section applies to the “special terms and conditions pertaining to the use of data” section – Diane implies that reads it as excluding commercial usage, but the “special terms” does say “Notwithstanding the general prohibition on the commercial use of IMF content, Users may … sell Data obtained from IMF sites, subject to …” In addition Lagarde said “to everyone”, which must mean commercial as well as non-commercial users.
>  
> My read is that the policy intention is probably free as in “libre” as well as “gratuit” but that they have fallen into the trap of trying to write their own licence.
>  
> The point about telling customers they could get the data free from the original source is one that has occurred in conversations I have had with a number of governments. It’s partially fixable by the right form of attribution statement.
> I don’t think that there is much point in going through the compliance process unless they ask. Instead I would have thought that we (OKFN, with OD Advisory Council leading) should write a public letter to Lagarde with an accompanying blog post and media promotion. To me this would be along the lines of:
>  
> * applaud your move to make your data free. Immensely valuable to have your high-quality global data available for everyone to use without restriction.
> * to maximise the global value of this treasure, it is important that it is truly “Open Data” and not just free of charge. Point to open definition.
> * unfortunately IMF not quite there yet.
> * a number of issues in the text
> * however the best course would be for the IMF not to try and maintain its own licence but to use an existing, globally recognised and expertly maintained licence.
> * we’d urge IMF to adopt Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 – a number of specific provisions in the IMF’s Special Terms can be met by the provisions within CC-BY, and we would be delighted to help the IMF’s team do so.
> * finally while it’s great that you have made your data free available; we would of course hope that more of your publicly available content including reports will be made available on ‘open’ terms as well.
>  
> Regards
>  
> Andrew
>  
> [1] https://twitter.com/Lagarde/status/534715250927759361
> [2] https://twitter.com/DirDigEng/status/535027925314437120
> [3] http://www.imf.org/external/terms.htm
>  
> From: od-discuss [mailto:od-discuss-bounces at lists.okfn.org] On Behalf Of Herb Lainchbury
> Sent: 21 January 2015 06:47
> To: Rufus Pollock
> Cc: od-discuss at lists.okfn.org
> Subject: Re: [od-discuss] New IMF license for data re-use
>  
> I don't know if we have a process for this or if we're tracking any licenses in this way, but it's a good idea.
>  
> We do have our license approval process, but I don't think that's what you're referring to.  Please correct me if I'm wrong. 
>  
> Based on these terms alone, there doesn't appear to be any intention on the part of the IMF to have the data they are publishing be considered open.
>  
> On Tue, Jan 20, 2015 at 9:57 PM, Rufus Pollock <rufus.pollock at okfn.org> wrote:
> +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 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
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> Portland, Oregon
> http://creativecommons.org/staff#dianepeters
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> Herb Lainchbury, Dynamic Solutions
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