# Licensing and mandatory attribution Several of these strings are contractually mandatory, not stylistic. Check the **per-dataset** licence: portals with a default open licence routinely contain datasets under more restrictive terms. ## Acknowledgement is a constraint on the source field Treat source acknowledgement as a constraint on the `Source:` field, not as an additional credit line. A complete source citation naming the producing agency satisfies a general requirement to acknowledge that agency as the source. Add separate wording only where the licence mandates text the citation does not already supply. The confirmed licence itself goes in its own `Licence:` field — the licence name plus the canonical terms URL — rendered once, between `Source:` and `Note:`. A licence obligation never justifies a second `Source:` line. ## World Bank Default **CC BY 4.0 with added terms**. Some datasets are ODbL or Microdata Research License. Required attribution format, verbatim: ``` The World Bank: Dataset name: Data source (if known) ``` The third element is the underlying data provider, not the World Bank. Where the World Bank is redistributing an ILO or UN series, that originator goes in slot three. Two further binding clauses: - **Sub-licensing:** when sharing or facilitating access to the datasets, the same acknowledgement requirement must be included in any sub-licences granted. - **No endorsement:** you may not publicly represent or imply that the World Bank is participating in, or has sponsored, approved or endorsed the manner or purpose of your use. - **No association:** no use of the name or logo implying affiliation. Practical consequence: a derived indicator built on World Bank data must not be presented in a way that suggests the World Bank produced or endorses it. Source: https://www.worldbank.org/en/about/legal/terms-of-use-for-datasets ## OECD CC-BY-style terms. Mandatory credit: ``` OECD (year), (dataset name), (data source) DOI or URL (accessed on (date)) ``` The acknowledgement requirement must be carried into any sub-licences. Style Guide constraint: **do not use `Source: OECD` or `Source: Authors`** — list the source of the data even where it is not public. For a figure you calculated from OECD data, satisfy both requirements: name the OECD dataset as the data source *and* state that the calculation is yours. **Do not label OECD Data as CC BY on the strength of the portal terms.** The Terms & Conditions set bespoke conditions on Data and state their Creative Commons provision separately, for other content — so "the OECD is open, therefore this dataset is CC BY 4.0" is an inference, not a confirmation, and it is the kind of inference this file exists to stop. Where the dataset's own metadata names a licence, use that name. Where it does not, the confirmed licence is: ```markdown Licence: [OECD Terms and Conditions](https://www.oecd.org/en/about/terms-conditions.html). ``` Source: https://www.oecd.org/en/about/terms-conditions.html ## ABS Default **CC BY 4.0 International**; older products CC BY 2.5 Australia. Mandatory: *"In all cases, the ABS must be acknowledged as the source when reproducing or quoting any part of an ABS publication or other product."* A `Source:` line naming Australian Bureau of Statistics **already satisfies** this for unmodified material. Do not follow it with a second, abbreviated `Source: ABS` — that is a duplicate credit, not additional compliance, and it is the most common way this block goes wrong. Render the licence separately and once, as: ```markdown Licence: [CC BY 4.0 International (ABS terms)](https://www.abs.gov.au/website-privacy-copyright-and-disclaimer). ``` Use that exact label only for a product verified to carry the ABS default. The default is a starting point for the check, never its result: never assign it from `agency=ABS` alone, and check the carve-out below. **Important carve-out:** ABS survey forms and questions are **CC BY-NC-ND 4.0**, materially more restrictive than the data. Data ≠ instruments. Do not reproduce or adapt survey instruments under the assumption that the data licence covers them. Source: https://www.abs.gov.au/website-privacy-copyright-and-disclaimer ## Eurostat / EU Reuse permitted with source acknowledgement. Where reuse involves modification to the data or text, **this must be stated clearly to the end user**. A derived series therefore requires an explicit modification statement, not just a source line. ## ILOSTAT Free to use with the citation given in `agency-formats.md`. ## Generic CC BY 4.0 Attribution requires **TASL** — Title, Author, Source, Licence — **plus an explicit statement if changes were made**, and attribution must not imply endorsement. Template for a derived figure: ``` Derived by [author] from [Title], [Author], [Source URL], licensed under CC BY 4.0. Changes were made: [brief description of the transformation]. [Author/agency] does not endorse this derivation. ``` The last line is often unnecessary where no endorsement is implied, but include it wherever the derived figure sits close to the source's branding or could be read as an official product. ## Handling derived figures generally Three requirements interact and all must be met simultaneously: 1. **Name the underlying data source** (OECD: never `Source: Authors` alone). 2. **Flag the derivation** (CC BY: indicate if changes were made; Eurostat: state modifications clearly). 3. **Avoid implying endorsement** (World Bank no-endorsement; CC BY attribution rules). The wording that satisfies all three: ``` Source: calculated by [author] from [Agency] (period) Title [medium], identifier, accessed DD Month YYYY. [Agency] is not responsible for the calculation. ``` That wording **occupies** the one `Source:` field. Changed-material and non-endorsement statements are modifications to the source field's content, not licence to open a second source line beside the full citation. ## Checks before external publication - Per-dataset licence confirmed, not just the portal default. - Exactly one `Source:` field, one `Licence:` field and one `Note:` field, in that order, each label singular and each carrying all of its entries. - Required attribution string present verbatim where the licence mandates specific wording. - Modification statement present for any derived or transformed figure. - No implication of endorsement, sponsorship or affiliation. - Acknowledgement requirement propagated into any onward licence you grant. - Instruments (survey forms, questionnaires) checked separately from data.