1. Scope and Role of Vertical52
Vertical52 GmbH (“Vertical52”) operates a digital platform providing access to satellite imagery and related analytical services for journalistic, research, and public-interest purposes.
Vertical52 does not own satellite imagery made available through the platform. All imagery is supplied under licences issued by third-party content providers (“Providers”), either directly or via authorised distributors.
By registering for or using the Vertical52 platform, users agree to these Core Terms of Use.
2. Eligible Users and Accounts
Access is limited to registered users acting on behalf of:
media organisations and newsrooms,
individual journalists,
civil-society and non-governmental organisations,
academic or research institutions.
Accounts are issued to specific users or organisations and may not be shared beyond authorised users.
3. Licence Hierarchy and Provider Licence Annexes
Satellite imagery made available through Vertical52 is governed by:
the applicable third-party provider licence,
the relevant Provider Licence Annex, and
these Core Terms of Use.
Provider-specific licence terms are set out in separate Provider Licence Annexes, which form an integral part of these Core Terms.
Provider Licence Annexes:
apply only to imagery supplied by the respective provider,
may be added or updated to reflect new providers or changed licensing conditions,
do not require amendment of these Core Terms.
Accessing, ordering, downloading, or using imagery from a specific provider constitutes acceptance of the applicable Provider Licence Annex and the underlying third-party licence terms referenced therein.
4. Categories of Use (General)
4.1 Analysis and Verification Use
Imagery may be used for internal:
research and verification,
editorial planning and fact-checking,
internal briefings and assessments,
unless the applicable Provider Licence Annex permits publication.
4.2 Publication Use
Publication is permitted only where a valid publication licence exists and only within the scope defined by the applicable Provider Licence Annex and third-party licence.
5. Organisational Use and Sharing
Imagery may be used only by the organisation or individual account that ordered it.
Users may not:
share raw imagery with third parties,
provide imagery to partner organisations or affiliates not covered by the licence,
redistribute imagery outside the licensed organisation.
Where publication is permitted, dissemination is limited to readers, viewers, or listeners as part of the licensed editorial output.
6. Storage, Archiving, and Reuse (General Principles)
Storage, archiving, and reuse of imagery are governed by the applicable Provider Licence Annex and third-party licence.
Unless explicitly authorised:
automated reuse, dataset creation, or machine-learning training is prohibited.
Provider-specific rules are set out in the relevant annex.
7. Compliance, Responsibility, and Liability
Users are responsible for ensuring compliance with:
these Core Terms,
the applicable Provider Licence Annex,
all third-party licence conditions.
Vertical52 does not provide legal advice and does not review or approve editorial content.
Imagery is provided “as is”. Users remain solely responsible for editorial interpretation, publication decisions, and legal compliance, and agree to indemnify Vertical52 against claims arising from misuse or licence violations attributable to the user.
8. Suspension, Termination, and No Reimbursement
Vertical52 may suspend or terminate access where:
these Terms or provider licences are breached, or
access must be restricted for legal, regulatory, compliance, or supplier-related reasons.
Subscription fees are charged for access to a compliance-sensitive, licensed ecosystem and are not contingent on uninterrupted availability of specific imagery providers.
Suspension or termination shall not give rise to any right to reimbursement, refund, or early termination of subscription obligations, regardless of whether one or multiple users are affected.
9. Acceptable Platform Use
Users may not:
circumvent technical safeguards,
share account credentials,
scrape or bulk-extract imagery or metadata,
interfere with platform security or operation.
10. Compliance Cooperation
Users agree to reasonably cooperate with compliance-related enquiries concerning their use of licensed imagery, including enquiries originating from providers.
11. Data Protection and Privacy
Personal data is processed in accordance with the applicable Privacy Policy and relevant data protection laws, including the GDPR.
12. Final Provisions
If any provision is held invalid, the remaining provisions remain in force.
These Core Terms, together with applicable Provider Licence Annexes, constitute the entire agreement between the user and Vertical52.
Governing law: Germany
Jurisdiction: Berlin, unless mandatory law provides otherwise.
Provider Licence Annexes
ANNEX A
Planet Labs Imagery
A.1 Permitted Uses
Planet imagery supplied through Vertical 52 (through the standard media publication licence which is the Vertical52 default) may be used for:
print journalism,
online articles,
broadcast and streaming formats.
Imagery may be cropped, resized, and incorporated into graphics or maps for editorial purposes.
Planet imagery may not be used for advertising, marketing, branding, or sponsored content.
A.2 Mandatory Attribution
Every published use must include:
“Image © [Year] Planet Labs. All Rights Reserved. Reprinted by permission.”
The year must correspond to the year of image capture.
A.3 Editorial Context and Integrity
Planet imagery:
must form part of a larger editorial story,
must not be published on a stand-alone basis,
must not be used in a misleading or deceptive manner.
A.4 Archiving and Retention
Planet imagery may be retained for:
editorial documentation,
verification and fact-checking,
internal reference related to published stories.
It may not be compiled into stock archives or reused as a general-purpose visual asset.
A.5 Reuse
Reuse is permitted only within:
the same story,
updates or follow-ups directly related to the original investigation,
syndication of the same editorial content.
Reuse in a new or unrelated context may require additional licensing.
A.6 Prohibited Uses
Planet imagery may not be used for:
commercial resale,
non-editorial illustration,
AI / ML training,
dataset creation for reuse.
A.7 Governing Licence
Planet imagery is provided under Planet’s Master Content License Agreement, available at:
https://www.planet.com/licensing-information/
Use of Planet imagery constitutes acceptance of those terms.
ANNEX B
Vantor (formerly Maxar) Imagery via EUSI
B.1 Default Use Rights (Internal / Analysis Use)
Unless explicitly licensed otherwise, imagery supplied from Vantor (formerly Maxar) via EUSI is provided under the Maxar Internal / Analysis Use Licence.
This licence permits use solely for:
internal analysis,
verification,
editorial assessment.
Publication or external dissemination is not permitted.
The applicable Internal / Analysis Use Licence is available at:
[link to hosted Maxar Internal Use Licence on vertical52.org]
B.2 Media Publication Licences
Publication rights for Vantor (formerly Maxar) imagery apply only after:
explicit approval by Maxar, and delivery of a Maxar media publication licence through Vertical52.
As part of its service, Vertical52 will seek the required publication approval from Maxar on behalf of the user, based on the intended editorial use communicated by the user.
Media publication licences are case-specific and apply only to the explicitly approved publication. No publication rights arise unless and until such approval has been granted and confirmed.
B.3 Post-Publication Status and Reuse
After publication under a granted media licence:
imagery may remain accessible for documentation and record-keeping,
imagery is thereafter not licensed for publication unless the licence explicitly states otherwise.
Reuse in any new publication requires a new media licence.
B.4 Acceptance of Maxar Licence Terms
By accessing or using Vantor (Maxar) imagery through the Vertical52 platform, users confirm that they have read and agree to the applicable Maxar Internal / Analysis Use Licence and, where applicable, any separately granted Maxar media publication licence.
B.5 Governing Licence Relationship
Maxar imagery is governed exclusively by the applicable Maxar and EUSI licence terms.
Planet licence logic does not apply to Maxar imagery.