Hi Walter,<br><br>Am not a legally minded person myself :). However am acquainted with the use of Google Maps API (I also work for Google)<br><br>From what I understand:<br><br>- Its perfectly ok to display your data on Google Maps as a layer without necessarily submitting your information on Google Maps<br>
- If you make this site public, this service is then free<br>- If you restrict access to the site you would need to pay for the service, hence Google Maps Premier API.<br><br>In any case, Google does not get your data hence it is not search-able on Google Maps or even Google Search - no need to worry about this. Feel free to go ahead and use the service.<br>
<br>Cheers<br><br><div class="gmail_quote">On 24 August 2010 15:26, Walter Smit <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:walter@digitalgeography.co.za">walter@digitalgeography.co.za</a>></span> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); padding-left: 1ex;">
<div link="blue" vlink="purple" lang="EN-ZA">
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<p class="MsoNormal">Hi All</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Any legally minded people on this forum:</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I have read through all the available Google documentation
regarding fair use of their API (service). Unfortunately I still cannot figure
out what they would consider fair/legal use and what not (and they specifically
state that you cant ask them – you must ask an attorney!).</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I would like to use the Google Maps API as a “backdrop” on my
website – while displaying my own points of interest on top of it (not
sharing/uploading my points of interest to Google). </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">As per Google requirements the site will be publicly and
freely accessible and I wont be trying to hide the fact that I am using Google
Maps (their logos and copyright watermarks). I just don’t want to upload my
points of interest to Google for the whole world to access via Google Maps.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Anybody know if this would be legal? I thought I saw some
sites doing this already (with Openlayers if I recall)...</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10pt;" lang="EN-US">Best
Regards</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";" lang="EN-US"></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10pt;" lang="EN-US">Walter
Smit </span><span lang="EN-US"></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 7pt;"><img src="cid:image001.gif@01CB4398.652F26B0" alt="cid:image001.gif@01C7EFA1.3454E320" height="67" width="222"></span><span lang="EN-US"></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 8pt; color: rgb(153, 153, 153);" lang="EN-US">Tel: 082 565 4574 or 043 735
1661</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 8pt; color: rgb(153, 153, 153);" lang="EN-US">Fax: 086 612 3575</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";" lang="EN-US"></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 8pt; color: rgb(153, 153, 153);" lang="EN-US">Email: <a href="mailto:peter.r@sa-solutions.co.za" target="_blank">walter.s@sa-solutions.co.za</a></span><span lang="EN-US"></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 8pt; color: rgb(153, 153, 153);" lang="EN-US">Go to: <a href="http://www.sa-solutions.co.za/" target="_blank">www.sa-solutions.co.za</a></span></p>
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<br></blockquote></div><br><br clear="all"><br>-- <br><span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif; font-size: 13px; border-collapse: collapse;"><div><span style="font-size: small;"><font color="#666666">Jeremiah Kamau | Google |<br>
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