I have been mapping streets in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham – postcodes W6 and SW6. I am using the cadastral parcels layer to align the buildings I’m adding. I previously asked advice in this thread, and @spiregrain was very helpful.
Recently I came across this map, which has extremely detailed and accurate building outlines. Basically the same level of detail as the mapping that I’ve been doing.
I live locally, so I can attest to its accuracy. To what degree can I use this when mapping in OSM? Is this available as a layer in the same way as the cadastral parcels? Can this data be imported into OSM? I assume not. How about tracing these outlines manually – would that be a good idea or bad?
Or should I just ignore this, and continue to trace in line with the Bing aerial imagery I’ve been using?
This thread seems to suggest Ordnance Survey maps cannot be used in OSM in any way.
There’s a link in the bottom right of that map that says “Use of this mapping is subject to terms & conditions”. When you click on this it pops up a window that says:
Point i says non-commercial and OSM’s licence allows commercial use so it’s not ok on that front.
Point i also says its license is revocable which is specifically listed as a blocker in the OSMF license compatibility guidelines.
Point ii says you can’t copy from it which is what you’d be doing to put it into OSM.
Nothing on that page suggests to me that it would be acceptable under the guidance on the OSMF licence and legal FAQ (or the wiki page on copyright for that matter).
I should note that while the language in the guidance seems fairly straightforward I’m not a lawyer and could be missing something important here.
Are you using JOSM? Have a look at some of the maps under “Historic or otherwise outdated map”. The ones with NLS and 1:1250 are what you want. Just cross check with the latest maps for differences. You can get house numbers off them as well. I’ve done a fair chunk of my city using these old maps.