Declaring your contributions to be public domain
Declaring your contributions to be public domain is an option available to registered users on OpenStreetMap.
The ability to declare contributions to be public domain was added as part of the license migration from CC-BY-SA to ODBL.
There is also a banner template on the wiki to specify that the user's contributions are in the public domain.
The public domain flag on a user account or wiki account is only indicative and does not legally indicate that the user's contributions are in the public domain.
OpenStreetMap website
The option to declare contributions to be public domain is available in the user account settings of the OpenStreetMap website.[1]
OpenStreetMap wiki
The wiki also has a template for declaring contributions in the public domain. The template is titled "pd-user" and is in reference to the OpenStreetMap website. The template does not specify whether contributions to the wiki are in the public domain as well.
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All my contributions to OpenStreetMap are released into the public domain. This applies worldwide. In case this is not legally possible, I grant anyone the right to use my contributions for any purpose, without any conditions, unless such conditions are required by law. |
Limitations
As mentioned before, the actual status of one's edits who has declared their contributions to be in the public domain is not publicly visible. Meaning there is no way to see or query objects that have been added or modified by users who have declared their work to be public domain. Additionally, there is no way of telling which users have set this setting unless the user chooses to disclose it on their wiki page, OSM profile, or elsewhere.
The database license overrides the license of individual items, meaning that declaring contributions to be public domain is a statement only, and is not legally binding.
Additionally, there is no option to revoke this setting on the website. In the past, users who have had the flag wrongly set on their profile were successful in having the flag removed.[2]
See also
Pros and cons of contributing data public domain
Why would I want my contributions to be public domain