There are two basic rules to consider: facts can’t be copyrighted and most resources we want to use to gain data or information is copyright protected. While this might sound like a contradiction, this is the reality we are confronted with.

I can freely use single facts from a website and add them to the filming location database. However, a collection of facts is copyrighted and can’t be added.

Let’s look at 2 real life examples:

You want to add the Bar Vitelli, featured in the Godfather (1972), to the filming location database and see they have a website. There you find an address, a phone number, and so on.

You may use this information, as it is considered a single fact: information about a local café/bar, taken from the official website.

Now you want to add a Mugg & Bean restaurant you’ve seen in a movie, but don’t know where exactly it is located. You know they have a store locator on the official website, where you find the address, and additional information.

However, this is considered a collection of facts and its data can’t be added to the filming location database.

As a rule of thumb, single facts are only ok to use, if you take them from the business’ or location’s official website. A business page on facebook, for example, is copyright protected, because it is not considered a single fact, but a part of facebook as a whole.

If in doubt, please don’t add the location. The filming location database is meant to be truly free data without the reputation of dodgy practises.

There are free licenses that might be used without asking for consent. The OpenStreetMap wiki has a list, which licenses are compatible with the ODbL. Since they use the same license as the filming location database, it is also applicable for us.

Be aware: some licenses that are compatible might need attribution. Only add data from those sources if you can comply with its attribution requirements.

OpenStreetMap data can be added to the filming location database, because we added the proper attribution to the copyright notice.

• Luc Gommans: Copyright FAQ
• OpenStreetMap wiki: Import/ODbL_Compatibility
• Wikipedia: Copyright in compilation