What is a mapping licence?

A mapping licence is the legal permission that tells you how you can use a dataset or basemap – who can see it, where it can be published, whether you can share it with suppliers, and what happens when a project ends. What you can do with mapping is defined by the licence – not the file format.

In practice, a licence is a set of terms that sits behind your mapping and location data. It covers usage rights, attribution, sharing rules, retention, and liability. Think of it as governance for location data – keeping projects compliant and repeatable across teams and suppliers.

When do you need a mapping licence?

Typically, you’ll need a licence if mapping or derived mapping is used beyond personal, consumer use – especially if it supports business delivery, public services, client outputs, or publication on the web. Derived data is data made from existing mapping. It must be used, attributed, and shared in line with the original licence and any applicable public sector rules.

Public sector use has its own framework for mapping, along with its own rules for how that information is shared with other public bodies and third parties such as contractors.

OS vs Partner Resellers

Ordnance Survey licenses its own data directly. It provides free datasets (OpenData) with permissive licences, and premium datasets like OS MasterMap, which need commercial licences. Its tools can help you choose the right licence, and we’re very happy to help you as you run through the options. But in short, OS partner resellers like Emapsite add value – helping you match licences to workflows, combining multiple suppliers, and avoiding those ‘almost compliant’ situations that sometimes arise across multiple teams.

Typical pricing factors

Costs usually reflect the data product and area coverage; how often the dataset is updated; the number of users or audience size, publishing versus internal use, term length, and whether access is delivered as an API or downloadable data.

Key risks of getting it wrong

The biggest risks are audit exposure, project delays, unplanned true-up costs, and accidental onward sharing. It’s a common issue when contractors need access: onward sharing with contractors should be covered explicitly in the licence to avoid inadvertent breaches. Licence non-compliance can also have legal implications, especially for commercial redistribution – do read more about Contractor Link, and how we can help you overcome those challenges.

How Emapsite can help

We can help you pick the cleanest route, reducing the friction and the risks.

Start with your end use – internal, web, print, or API – then map that to who needs access, including suppliers and contractors. Keep licence terms alongside the data in your project documentation, and review them when a project changes channel or audience.

For more information, reach out to our Customer Support team.