Improve license compliance and attribution of embedded maps (Community Wishlist/W419)
Consider the following map frame, which displays the CC-BY licensed geoshape data from c:Data:Estancias Jesuíticas Córdoba.map:
Notice that, even when you expand the map to fill the page, there is no attribution statement, nor even any mention that the CC-BY license applies to the overlay.
You might well argue that the data is so simple that it is uncopyrightable and the CC-BY license is ineffective. But we can't presume that. And in any event, the Wikimedia movement has a deep-seated commitment to upholding the spirit of open licenses as well as the letter.
Ideally the empty space in the lower-left corner of the expanded map view would be used to provide licensing information. For instance:
- The map overlay(s) are licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. View data sources (where the last three words are a link to the Data: page on Commons)
I also think an additional field should be provided in the map JSON schema, called "author" or "attribution". The only relevant field available today, "sources", may contain information beyond what is required to properly attribute the data. Without a separate attribution field, it is difficult for reusers to know how to fulfil the CC attribution requirement.
Unassigned
Viewers and reusers of maps, creators of map data
- Created: 08:09, 20 September 2025
- Last updated: 14:20, 8 July 2026
- Author: This, that and the other (talk)
This wish currently has 4 supporters. Voting for this wish is open until it is completed.