ODP Data

Borrowing it, tho;)ugh not from RDF

[brotherhood of LAN]

Is it legally "OK" to use data from the ODP? I am not meaning the RDF dumps that all those ODP clones use - I have something in mind that is a little on a smaller scale for a particular category.

It would be a case of me using the data I see on certain ODP categories and adding/deleting appropriately.

I read through some of the guidelines etc but the legal speak gets a bit dark and ambiguous (for me) so hopefully wmw comes to the rescue :)

As I say, its more or less one category (2nd tier down)....where i would be scooping the data from the ODP pages and putting them in my own category.

Good or bad?

[Brett_Tabke]

Yes! Have a go at the license:

[dmoz.org...]

1. Basic License. Netscape grants you a non-exclusive, royalty-free license to use, reproduce, modify and create derivative works from, and distribute and publish the Open Directory and your derivative works thereof,

[bird]

.../Open_Directory_Project/Use_of_ODP_Data/Upload_Tools/ [dmoz.org]

Sites in this category contain tools to help with importing or displaying data from the Open Directory.

These tools are operating either by querying a live site using ODP data or by importing the ODP RDF dumps.

Since the editors are not supposed to list sites that promote illegal activities, it's a pretty safe bet that using the tools in this category is considered to be legal... ;)

[brotherhood of LAN]

ok ok - i read a bit and well....cool....free really does seem to mean free!

Sounds good to me. I was just going to do a little copy/pasting and some macro making but then I thought I best check up before I spend hours on it :)

I just want a small backfill for a new directory. Hopefully in the longer term I'll have some sort of algo glued into it....when there are more sites to sort!

[rafalk]

It's OK as long as you add the required attribution [dmoz.org].

[Skunkeh]

Unfortunately the required attribution uses horrible HTML. My sites are all XHTML 1.0 Strict now, so the attribution in it's current format just isn't an option for me. I've created an alternative using DIVs and CSS that looks identical, but I'm currently awaiting some form of approval from DMOZ before I consider using it (I'm not holding my breath).

[bath.ac.uk...]

[bird]

Don't worry about the specific HTML.

As long as you produce the equivalent visual appearance and functionality with cleaner code, I'd say just go ahead. It's the look and feel that matters, not the implementation.

[rafalk]

As long as you produce the equivalent visual appearance and functionality with cleaner code, I'd say just go ahead. It's the look and feel that matters, not the implementation.

Bird is absolutely correct.

[Skunkeh]

Thanks - a DMOZ staff member has confirmed I can use the XHTML version now as well :)