GeoNames Forum

Hello,

I've read a couple threads here and the CC license that GeoNames is under and it appears that as long as I give credit to where I obtain any data relating to Geo Names, everything seems fine under the terms of the license and I am able to use it for commercial purposes.

My question is more concerned with where/how it would be appropriate to provide credit. I am creating an app in android and ios that requires the use of geocoding. I plan to provide citation in a about page or something similar to that.

Is this an appropriate place or way to identify that my app uses GeoNames' data?

If I was wrong about anything, please correct me as I am still understanding these things and I want to properly display copyright.

I’m also working on a mobile app and plan to use GeoNames for geocoding.
Are there specific examples of how others have provided attribution in their apps?
For instance, should the credit appear only on the about page or would a footer in the app interface also be acceptable?

kananbrooks wrote:

For instance, should the credit appear only on the about page or would a footer in the app interface also be acceptable?

Both approaches are acceptable. We do not specifically define the details of the attribution, leaving it to the data user to determine the best way to integrate it based on their use case.

Cheers

Marc

You're on the right track!

Under the Creative Commons Attribution license that GeoNames operates under, giving appropriate credit is key. For your app, providing attribution on an "About" page or a similar section is indeed a suitable way to acknowledge the use of GeoNames' data. This ensures users can easily find the credit, fulfilling the license's requirements.

When giving credit, consider including the following information:

A statement like "This app uses data from GeoNames" or "Data provided by GeoNames".

A link to the GeoNames website.

A note that the data is used under the Creative Commons Attribution license.