---
title: Attribution | Plaza Docs
description: How to credit data sources when using Plaza. OpenStreetMap attribution requirements, caching rules, and dataset-specific licensing.
---

Plaza serves data from multiple sources. OpenStreetMap data is provided under the [Open Database License (ODbL)](https://opendatacommons.org/licenses/odbl/) and requires attribution. Other datasets (Plaza-curated and user-uploaded) have their own licensing terms specified per dataset.

## What to display

```
<a href="https://www.openstreetmap.org/copyright">© OpenStreetMap contributors</a>
```

That’s it. A text link to the OSM copyright page.

## Where to put it

- **Maps**: corner of the map (lower-right is traditional, any corner works)
- **Apps**: footer, about page, or splash screen
- **Websites**: page footer or adjacent to the data
- **APIs you build on top of Plaza**: pass the attribution through to your consumers (the `X-Attribution` response header makes this easy)

The attribution must be visible to anyone who sees the data. It doesn’t need to be shown on every screen — an app footer or about page is fine.

## Caching and storage

Normal API usage does **not** trigger share-alike:

- Caching geocoding results in your database
- Storing routes, isochrones, or search results
- Combining Plaza data with your own proprietary data
- Using results in AI/ML pipelines

These are all fine. No special license needed.

**Share-alike only applies** if you aggregate API responses to reconstruct a substantial portion of the OpenStreetMap database itself — essentially, bulk-downloading the planet through the API to build a competing dataset. Normal application usage is not this.

## The X-Attribution header

Every Plaza API response includes:

```
X-Attribution: Data © OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL 1.0
```

You can use this to programmatically surface attribution in your application.

## Summary

| Question                             | Answer                                                         |
| ------------------------------------ | -------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Do I need to credit OpenStreetMap?   | Yes — a link to openstreetmap.org/copyright                    |
| Do I need to credit Plaza?           | No (but we appreciate it)                                      |
| Can I cache API results?             | Yes                                                            |
| Can I combine with proprietary data? | Yes                                                            |
| Can I use results in AI/ML?          | Yes                                                            |
| Do I need to watermark anything?     | No                                                             |
| When does share-alike apply?         | Only if you reconstruct a substantial part of the OSM database |

For full license details, see the [ODbL summary](https://opendatacommons.org/licenses/odbl/summary/) and the [OSMF attribution guidelines](https://osmfoundation.org/wiki/Licence/Attribution_Guidelines).

## Other datasets

Plaza-curated datasets and user-uploaded datasets each have their own license and attribution fields. Check the `license` and `attribution` properties on the dataset metadata. When a dataset specifies attribution, display it alongside the OpenStreetMap credit if you’re mixing data sources in the same view.