Licenses and permissions to use maps for publication

[Dhaval Shukla]

What are the licensing and usage rules for maps that contain India or parts of it? The survey of india website has a PDF and licensing instructions but they seem a bit confusing.

Currently though, I have questions for three projects:

1. Publishing a map of Ahmadabad( just the outline of the city and the river) on sketchbooks, bags, etc. For commercial use
2. Publishing a transit diagram for BRTS buses in Ahmedabad as a paper brochure and distributing it commercially as well as non commercially.
3. Publishing a tourist brochure of Ahmedabad in a paper brochure containing suggested attractions. Commercial project.

Instructions for Publication of Maps by Govt and Private Publishers - 2016 by Survey of India seems to say that for any map larger than a scale of 1:1,000,000 and more details than the survey of India files, we need to take permission.

1. Which doesn't make sense to me. A large scale map is of a smaller area than the survey of india map, and therefore has a high probability of containing more details. So a small map of a housing community, by this definition, needs permission.  Am I correct?
2. For the above listed projects, according to my interpretation of the document, I will need to get due permission from the SOI for 1 and 3, but since a transit map isn't technically a geographical map(similar to the delhi metro map) I don't think permission is necessary. Am I correct?
3. If I source my data from OSM, GADM, or the datameet repo, what do I need to inform the SOI about?

Thanks. I could be paranoid about this but I want to get my facts straight.

[Devdatta Tengshe]

Hi Dhaval,

you are right to be Paranoid.

As per the current rules, if you publish a large scale Map, of any part of the country, you need to get it certified by SOI. (So even if you are publishing a Map of a  small society, or a Small Locality, you need to get it certified by SOI). Legally speaking every Latlong, or point of interest on any map needs to be certified by them. This was the basis of going after Google maps for their crowd-sourced mymaps applications a few years ago.

A way around this, is publish something which does not meet the definition of Map. So for example, if you go to any map on mapsofindia (ex: http://www.mapsofindia.com/india/where-is-patna.html) You will see that they do not give the coordinates, or the Lat-long anywhere. In addition, they also explicitly mention  'Map Not to Scale')

If you are publishing a outline/transit/tourist map, make sure that you do not mention the coordinates anywhere, and put in a 'Not to Scale' warning. 

If you make a diagram like map (like the famous Tube Map), or a rough, cartoony outline  then you will be out of the ambit of SOI, since your map will not be to scale anyway.

I must mention that I am not a Lawyer, just someone who works in this industry. Hence get this verified by a proper lawyer.

Regards,

Devdatta

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[Dhaval Shukla]

Ok thanks, Devdutta. I am going to wait for a few more days to see other responses

But according to you,, I understand that if we do not give any lat, long or a scale, and possibly write "map not to scale" then we are good to go.

The logo and outline map will obviously not have that, and my transit map- which is similar to the tube map- is out of the question.

The tourist map, however, does contain a temporal scale, an approximation of the distance it takes to walk in 5 minutes.  I will see if I can find a lawyer around here who knows about this.

Regards,

Devdatta

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[Naraina aka Dilip Damle]

Thanks... 

But I have another question. 


What would be the definition of PUBLICATION. ?

In an internet age even that needs clarity IMO

Regards,

Devdatta

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[Dhaval Shukla]

True. For me currently it's only for paper and stationary, so I have mentioned that in the question.

But digital things may bring another dimension