What constitutes “transformed” or “substantially different” data for re-dissemination under the UN Comtrade license? #
Examples of what qualifies as transformed or substantially different data include:
- Calculating new indicators
- Additional data cleaning and estimation
- Filling in missing values using statistical or machine learning methods
- Adding new data or metadata from external sources
- Performing geographic and other aggregations or arithmetic calculations
You can re-disseminate data that is transformed or substantially different from the original UN Comtrade data without paying a re-dissemination fee (license to distribute). However, you must maintain an active premium subscription.
Do I need to pay a fee to re-disseminate original UN Comtrade data with over 100,000 records to (a) non-subscribers and (b) active UN Comtrade subscribers? #
- If you are re-disseminating original UN Comtrade data to non-subscribers and the dataset exceeds 100,000 records, you must pay the “license to distribute” fee, in addition to being an active premium subscriber. The cost varies based on the size of the data and the scale of the non-UN Comtrade subscribers.
- When re-disseminating original UN Comtrade data to active UN Comtrade subscribers, you are not required to pay the “license to distribute” fee. However, your system must be able to verify that users are active UN Comtrade subscribers (an API is available for this purpose).
Do I need a re-dissemination license for profit and non-profit purposes, and what are the associated costs? #
There is no distinction between profit and non-profit when it comes to re-dissemination. If you charge for access, you will need a license to distribute. The costs are as follows:
- If there is no large data download feature, you must pay the “license to distribute” fee, which amounts to 1 x Premium Pro, in addition to your subscription cost.
- If there is a significant data download feature (more than 100,000 records), you still need the license to distribute (1 x Premium Pro) along with any additional fees if the users are not UN Comtrade subscribers.
Do I need a re-dissemination license for transformed data if used for profit or non-profit purposes? #
There is no distinction between profit and non-profit. You do not need to pay for a “license to distribute” since UN Comtrade does not copyright transformed data.
What are the conditions for third parties to re-disseminate original UN Comtrade data? #
Third parties must adhere to the same conditions as other UN Comtrade users wishing to disseminate data. This is because third parties can obtain the data from UN Comtrade directly and re-disseminate under the terms of use.
Can third parties freely re-disseminate transformed data, visualizations, and analyses based on UN Comtrade data? #
Transformed data from UN Comtrade is no longer subject to copyright restrictions. As a result, you are permitted to establish your own guidelines for the redistribution of your transformed data. The data provided by UN Comtrade serves as input for your own data outputs.
How do I pay the license to distribute fee for re-disseminating UN Comtrade data? #
To express your intention for re-dissemination, please specify the contexts that apply to your case. We will then send you a pro forma invoice. Here is a summary of the re-dissemination fee options:
- No re-dissemination fee. Just ensure that you have an active subscription.
- 1 x Premium Pro as the re-dissemination fee. An active subscription is required.
- 1 x Premium Pro plus an ad-hoc fee (depending on data size and target users) as the re-dissemination fee. An active subscription is required.
Sample Cases #
Case 1: We are a research group at a university, and we will display this data on a public dashboard. We will not disseminate the data (just visualize it).
Do we need to obscure the numbers (such as display them as a percentage of the total), or are we okay with displaying the values from Comtrade?
A not-for-profit data visualization system can present actual figures of UN Comtrade. The restriction applies to systems that would disseminate a large amount of UN Comtrade data, such as streaming via API, file downloads, etc.
From my understanding of your policies on use and dissemination, our use would fall under the free-of-charge category. Is that the correct interpretation?
Yes. It is for public use free of charge.
We anticipate having a workflow where, monthly, we will need to download a large amount of data, analyze the values, and update the visualizations. I assume this implies that we will require the premium access tier, which also covers non-aggregated monthly data. It appears that this is not included in the free tier. Can you please verify which level of license or subscription we would require?
Yes, bulk download is for premium, and it would make it easier for you to update the data (or even establish automatic data pipeline using APIs). Depending on your need, the individual premium may be sufficient (5000 API calls/day) – you can always upgrade your subscription later to an institutional premium.
Case 2: We have been developing an automated market research web service that will be available to a wide audience on both a paid and free-of-charge basis.
According to the Policy on the use and re-dissemination of UN Comtrade data, we may reach a point in the future where we need to pay a fee to Comtrade. While we don’t anticipate this happening soon, the project is still a work in progress. Understanding when to switch to a fee-based subscription would be beneficial.
Please find the categories below where a license to distribute with a fee is required for the following use cases:
1. For-profit data visualization and/or analytics applications
2. For-profit data extraction and/or streaming applications
3. Any other for-profit applications
To access these use cases, an active premium institutional subscription is required. If you already have a subscription and would like to upgrade, please contact our Sales team at subscriptions@un.org.
For use case #1, a dissemination fee of 1 x Premium Institutional Subscription is applicable.
For use cases #2 and #3, please contact our Sales team for further information regarding dissemination fees.
