Terms of use
The maps on this site are protected work. The data behind them is not.
Short version
Look at the maps as much as you like. Do not republish them — not as images, not as video, not as part of your own product — without asking first. The geodata underneath is open and free for anyone to build their own maps from; the maps you see here are not.
What is protected
The rendered maps, the terrain and water colouring, the globe textures, the page design and the software behind them are the work of the operator named in the Imprint. Under German copyright law, maps are an expressly named category of protected work (§ 2 (1) no. 7 UrhG). The collection of entities and elevation ladders is additionally protected as a database (§ 87a ff. UrhG).
What is not allowed without permission
Recording, capturing, downloading or otherwise reproducing the maps and publishing the result — in particular in videos, on social platforms, in articles, in print, or as part of another website, application or product. This applies whether or not the use is commercial, and whether or not this site is credited.
Also not allowed: systematic or automated retrieval of the map images, elevation data or manifests, and extracting a substantial part of the dataset for reuse elsewhere.
What is allowed
Linking to any page here, freely and without asking. Sharing a link is welcome.
The right of quotation under § 51 UrhG is unaffected. If you are discussing, reviewing or reporting on this site, showing a short excerpt for that purpose remains permitted by law, with the source named. A video that consists largely of these maps is not a quotation.
The underlying data is free
This reservation covers the depiction, not the data. The elevation models, coastlines, rivers, borders and population grids come from open sources — public domain, CC BY 4.0 or ODbL — and every one of them is listed under Sources. Anyone is free to take the same datasets and produce their own maps.
Asking for permission
Requests are welcome and are answered individually. Write to [email protected] and say what you would like to use, where it will be published, and whether the use is commercial.