Does a Parish Online licence cover sharing the maps externally?

Does a Parish Online licence cover sharing the maps externally?

In Short

Yes, the Parish Online Mapping licence allows you to export maps from Parish Online and distribute/replicate/print them.

However, it's not just the Parish Online software licence to take into consideration. Our software contains maps that have their own licences.

The two key ones are the PSGA and the APGB licence. In short, their licences allow you to export maps providing they're being used for genuine local council business; e.g. neighbourhood plans, events, planning issues, council management, asset management etc. So as long as you can argue that the reason for using the map is a valid council task, you can use them as much as you like.

Example Use Cases

  1. Printing a large map to put up in a village hall as part of a Neighbourhood Plan consultation
  2. Sharing a PDF of a map to a newspaper detailing parking, facilities and road closures for a parish-run event
  3. Putting an interactive Public Map on your website to show residents where your defibrillators (or any assets) are located
  4. Sharing digital maps with a contractor to show them the areas you want quoted for grass cutting
  5. Exporting a map and importing it into a graphical design package (like Photoshop) and changing colours, design etc.
With all these examples above, the copyright licence must be retained, no matter what the end result/use of the map is.

Prohibited Uses

  1. Producing a site and block plan for a councillor's personal planning application submission
  2. Having customised mugs produced with maps on to sell or raffle off
  3. Sharing the maps with a local community group for them to use, if the group is not affiliated or working on behalf of the local council

Just Ask

Over 90% of the queries we receive around using mapping are valid uses, but we'd always rather you asked for clarification. Our summary above is very generalised guidance and the PSGA guidance is much more detailed and nuanced. Email support@parish-online.co.uk for help.


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