License Category Help

Appendix 1 is a listing of all sources within the current version of the Metathesaurus with an indication of any additional restrictions and notices that apply. Sources are listed in order according to the abbreviations used in the UMLS Metathesaurus files. All sources are subject to the general terms of the License for Use of the UMLS Metathesaurus. The Categories associated with each source are defined in the general license as follows:
  • Category 0 Restrictions – general terms of the License apply with no additional restrictions
  • Category 1 Restrictions – in addition to the general License terms, restrictions in Section 12.1 apply
  • Category 2 Restrictions – in addition to the general License terms, restrictions in Section 12.2 apply
  • Category 3 Restrictions – in addition to the general License terms, restrictions in Section 12.3 apply
  • Category 4 Restrictions – in addition to the general License terms, restrictions in Section 12.4 apply
  • Appendix 2 Restrictions (Category 9) – defines the terms of use of SNOMED CT ® . These terms take precedence over the general Metathesaurus license terms. Where an item is not addressed in Appendix 2 the general License terms apply.
CATEGORY 0 RESTRICTIONS – General terms of the License apply with no additional restrictions
CATEGORY 1 RESTRICTIONS APPLY
12.1. Category 1:

LICENSEE is prohibited from translating the vocabulary source into another language or from producing other derivative works based on this single vocabulary source.

CATEGORY 2 RESTRICTIONS APPLY
12.2. Category 2:

All category 1 restrictions AND LICENSEE is prohibited from using the vocabulary source in operational applications that create records or information containing data from the vocabulary source. Use for data creation research or product development is allowed.

CATEGORY 3 RESTRICTIONS APPLY
12.3. Category 3:

LICENSEE's right to use material from the source vocabulary is restricted to internal use at the LICENSEE's site(s) for research, product development, and statistical analysis only. Internal use includes use by employees, faculty, and students of a single institution at multiple sites. Notwithstanding the foregoing, use by students is limited to doing research under the direct supervision of faculty. Internal research, product development, and statistical analysis use expressly excludes: use of material from these copyrighted sources in routine patient data creation; incorporation of material from these copyrighted sources in any publicly accessible computer-based information system or public electronic bulletin board including the Internet; publishing or translating or creating derivative works from material from these copyrighted sources; selling, leasing, licensing, or otherwise making available material from these copyrighted works to any unauthorized party; and copying for any purpose except for back up or archival purposes.

LICENSEE may be required to display special copyright, patent and/or trademark notices before displaying content from the vocabulary source. Applicable notices are included in the list of UMLS Metathesaurus Vocabulary sources, that is part of this Agreement.

CATEGORY 4 RESTRICTIONS APPLY
12.4. Category 4:

12.4.1. LICENSEE is prohibited from translating the vocabulary source into another language or from altering the vocabulary source content.

12.4.2. LICENSEE's right to use the vocabulary source is restricted to use in the U.S. by LICENSEE's employees, contractors, faculty, students, clients, patients, or constituents within electronic systems or devices built, purchased, licensed, or used by LICENSEE for U.S. governmental purposes or for any health care, public health, research, educational, or statistical use in the U.S. Use by students is limited to research or educational activities under the direct supervision of faculty.

12.4.3. LICENSEE has the right to distribute the vocabulary source in the U.S., but only in combination with other UMLS Metathesaurus content. Further, LICENSEE's right to distribute is restricted to:

    1. Electronic distribution to LICENSEE's direct U.S. affiliates, or to other U.S. entities that have signed the UMLS license, in order to facilitate use of the vocabulary for health care, public health, research, educational or statistical purposes in the U.S. only.
      1. LICENSEE must take reasonable precautions to prevent distribution of the vocabulary source to non-US entities.
      2. LICENSEE must include in its annual report a list of all U.S. affiliates or other U.S. entities to whom it has distributed content from the vocabulary source.
    2. Distribution of encoded patient level data sets or knowledge encoded in the vocabulary source by LICENSEE to any U.S. entity for use in the U.S. only.
    3. Inclusion of encoded records or content from the vocabulary source in: (1) free publicly accessible retrieval systems or (2) fee-based retrieval systems that are accessible within the U.S. only, provided that these systems do not permit users to copy or extract any significant portion of the vocabulary source.

12.4.4. DEFINITIONS

      a. U.S. is defined as all U.S. states, territories, and the District of Columbia; any U.S. government facility or office, whether permanent or temporary, wherever located; and access to a system in any of these locations by U.S. government employees, designated representatives or contractors, wherever located, for U.S. government purposes.
      b. U.S. entity is defined as (i) for government entities, an agency or department of the U.S. Government, (ii) for corporations, as a corporation incorporated and operating in the U.S.; and (iii) for other entities as an entity organized under the laws of the U.S.