Last updated October 9, 2026

Data Usage and Source Rights

Source records keep their publishers’ rights. GDELT Cloud’s generated intelligence is a separate layer. This guide shows which is which in the API and where to check the source-specific terms.

Two kinds of data in one API

Source-native records and facts may be reused, including in customer-facing CSV files, your own API, and analyses you write from those records alone, subject to the original source’s terms, attribution, share-alike, commercial-use limits, and applicable law. GDELT Cloud does not charge an additional redistribution or data-license fee for that source-only use. Your ordinary subscription, API access, plan limits, and account security requirements still apply.

GDELT Cloud-generated output includes our coded Events, Story clusters, substantive summaries and scores, entity-identity bridges, model-extracted relations, matching and deduplication decisions, GDELT Cloud-generated composite indices, and analytical joins. A separate written license is required to distribute those generated fields to customers or to re-serve them as a feed, dataset, API, or hosted substitute for GDELT Cloud. A calculation made solely from source-native facts remains subject to the source terms and does not become proprietary simply because GDELT Cloud calculated it. Direct reuse of upstream material and independently licensed open data is unaffected.

Mechanical field-name normalization, filtering, sorting, unit conversion that preserves meaning, or adding a technical transport ID does not by itself turn an upstream fact into proprietary GDELT Cloud intelligence. Mixed responses should be read field by field: a source fact does not become ours just because it appears beside a generated field. GDELT Cloud-created identity matches, canonical-site merges, substantive extractions, or analytical joins are generated fields.

A publisher URL is a provenance link. It does not grant rights to reproduce the publisher’s article text, headline, image, or other protected material. Public availability is not an open license. No GDELT Cloud credit is required merely to link to a publisher or reuse source-native records under their own terms, unless a particular written agreement says otherwise; upstream attribution and non-endorsement terms continue to apply.

Production API schema API endpoint reference Full data and source catalog

Source records and generated fields by API family

Examples below identify common fields, not every field in a response. Paths use the production `/api/v2` prefix. Rights follow the publisher, dataset release, and field. Mechanical normalization, filtering, sorting, pagination, transport IDs, and meaning-preserving unit conversions do not create a GDELT Cloud redistribution fee. Cross-source matching, identity resolution, substantive extraction, and analysis may add GDELT Cloud-generated fields. Check each row’s source link and attribution metadata.

Production API	Source-native records and fields	GDELT Cloud-generated fields or work	Source terms / attribution
/api/v2/events · /api/v2/stories · /api/v2/stories/{story_id}/articles	Publisher links and article metadata: `top_articles[].url`, `title`, `domain`, `article_date`; bulk Events also expose `source_urls`. Check publisher terms before reproducing headlines or other content.	Event codes, categories, actors, geography and scores; Story clustering, generated titles, rank/role selection, linked Events and entity enrichment. These fields do not grant article rights.	GDELT Project; each publisher’s terms apply
/api/v2/search · /api/v2/entities · /api/v2/entity-tone · /api/v2/share-of-voice · /api/v2/intelligence/* · /api/v2/exposure	May link to public registry IDs, Wikipedia pages, cited articles, and indicator records; inspect each row’s source metadata.	Resolved entity IDs and identity bridges, merges, tone and share-of-voice scores, exposure joins, indices, maps and analytical summaries.	Source and methodology catalog
/api/v2/filings · /api/v2/filings/{cik}/facts · /api/v2/filings/{cik}/relations · /api/v2/filings/events	SEC filing index: `accession_no`, `form_type`, `file_date`, `primary_doc_url`; XBRL facts: `concept`, `taxonomy`, `unit`, `period_end`, `value`.	Entity resolution, highlights, relation extraction (`rel_type`, `evidence`, `confidence`, `model`) and material-event extraction (`event_type`, `headline`, `model`). These are GDELT Cloud interpretations, not SEC assertions.	SEC EDGAR APIs and fair-access terms
/api/v2/gov/awards · /api/v2/gov/fara · /api/v2/china/projects · /api/v2/china/projects/summary	USAspending award records, DOJ FARA filing/registrant records, and AidData Global Chinese Development Finance project records; source URLs identify the publisher evidence.	Source-name normalization, search, filtering and pagination are ways to access source records. Cross-source matching, entity resolution, substantive links and generated response summaries are GDELT Cloud work.	USAspending.gov source data
/api/v2/facilities · /api/v2/facilities/{facility_id}/observations · /api/v2/facilities/{facility_id}/relationships · /api/v2/facilities/{facility_id}/units	Records from GEM, NGA, Epoch AI, and selected USGS, Climate TRACE, ComputeAtlas and EEA releases. Look for `source_memberships`, source IDs, observations, `status_source`, `attributes`, `geo_precision` and `geo_evidence`.	Cross-source site fusion, identity-resolved participants and substantive joined context. Source IDs, normalized labels, filtering and source-only groupings remain subject to upstream terms; a fused site or identity bridge is GDELT Cloud work.	Facility source catalogue and release notes
/api/v2/energy/assets · /api/v2/energy/owners · /api/v2/energy/finance	GEM source IDs (`gem_id`, `tracker`), raw owner/operator/parent names, capacity, status, source file and release version.	Resolved owner identities and cross-source portfolio joins are GDELT Cloud work. Totals or groupings calculated solely from GEM records remain subject to GEM terms; they are not automatically proprietary GDELT Cloud output.	GEM tracker data and dataset-specific license
/api/v2/epoch/models · /api/v2/epoch/hardware · /api/v2/epoch/companies · /api/v2/epoch/data-centers · /api/v2/epoch/chip-sales · /api/v2/epoch/gpu-clusters · /api/v2/epoch/chip-owners · /api/v2/epoch/chip-users · /api/v2/epoch/chip-components · /api/v2/epoch/observations	Epoch AI’s published model, hardware, company, chip, and compute records and source IDs.	Search, filtering, pagination, and normalized source labels remain source access. Cross-source facility joins, entity identity bridges, and substantive synthesized role mappings are GDELT Cloud work; source-only totals and groupings remain subject to Epoch AI terms.	Epoch AI data and license
/api/v2/resources/statistics	USGS mineral statistics with source year, unit, qualifier and material description; country statistics are not facility-level measurements.	Commodity/country normalization, filters, pagination and source-only groupings remain access to USGS records; calculated summaries remain subject to the underlying source terms.	USGS National Minerals Information Center
/api/v2/gleif/entities · /api/v2/gleif/relationships · /api/v2/gleif/isin	GLEIF LEI records, reported accounting-consolidation relationships and LEI–ISIN mappings, with `meta.attributions`.	Search, filtering, pagination and field-name normalization expose GLEIF records. A reported consolidation link is not a beneficial-ownership or percentage-ownership statement.	GLEIF Golden Copy and terms
/api/v2/macro/series · /api/v2/macro/observations · /api/v2/macro/releases	FRED/ALFRED series and dated observations/vintages; source and rights vary by series, and restricted series are excluded.	Series selection, field normalization, filters, pagination and source-only comparisons remain subject to each series’ rights. Cross-source interpretation or a GDELT Cloud-generated analytical score may add generated fields.	FRED terms and third-party series notices
/api/v2/countries/{iso3} · /api/v2/activity	Dated World Bank indicators, ECB/BIS exchange rates, BIS inflation, Eurostat debt, SIX currency assignments, and event records; each measure has its own publisher and observation date.	Country context composition, source-only totals, averages and meaning-preserving transformations remain subject to the rights for each input series. Cross-source analytical joins may add GDELT Cloud-generated fields; do not assign one license to the whole response.	World Bank WDI dataset
/api/v2/intelligence/posture · /api/v2/countries/{iso3}	May use World Bank governance indicators and V-Dem country-year records; source rights are separate from GDELT Cloud’s index.	A GDELT Cloud composite posture score is a generated analytical field; calculations from source records alone remain subject to those sources’ terms. V-Dem v16 is CC BY-SA 4.0. World Bank licensing notes for certain underlying WGI components do not automatically classify every published aggregate; check the specific series and source terms.	V-Dem current dataset terms
/api/v2/offices · /api/v2/offices/{office_id}/holders · /api/v2/entities/{entity_id}/offices	Office and holder assertions from official rosters and Wikidata, including source-stated dates, `source_key`, `evidence_url` and attribution.	Source-key normalization and filtering retain the source assertions. Cross-source identity matches or entity bridges are GDELT Cloud links, not publisher assertions.	Wikidata licensing and reuse
/api/v2/lists · /api/v2/lists/entries · /api/v2/lists/changes · /api/v2/screening/match	Publisher list entries and identifiers from sources such as U.S. CSL, UN, UK and DoD lists; source URLs, issuer and jurisdiction identify provenance.	Source-list normalization, search and filtering retain publisher records. Cross-source alias/entity matches, match decisions and observed-change analysis are GDELT Cloud work. An observed change date is not a publisher designation date.	U.S. Consolidated Screening List source
/api/v2/maritime/ports · /api/v2/maritime/vessels · /api/v2/maritime/tracks · /api/v2/maritime/transits · /api/v2/maritime/dwell · /api/v2/maritime/gaps · /api/v2/maritime/port-pulse	NGA World Port Index reference facts and terrestrial AIS position/identity observations, where available.	Vessel identity joins, tracks, transit/dwell/gap detections, density, port activity and risk-watch outputs. Detected gaps and transits are GDELT Cloud analysis, not source declarations.	NGA World Port Index
/api/v2/monitors* · /api/v2/situations* · /api/v2/briefs*	Monitor and query definitions are customer-authored; referenced article and public-record fields remain subject to their respective source terms.	Matching, deduplication, situation membership, generated briefs, narratives, citations, alerts and delivery framing. Generated record fields retain their GDELT Cloud license boundary.	API docs and coverage metadata

Source terms that need particular care

Some source datasets allow broad reuse with attribution; others impose series-, release-, or record-specific conditions. Check the source’s current license and the exact release before commercial redistribution. A data catalog label or GDELT Cloud plan cannot waive an upstream restriction.

FRED includes third-party copyrighted series: its terms require attribution and direct users to the rights holder where a copyright notice appears. GEM tracker files are not uniform: the February 2026 Global Solar Power Tracker identifies TransitionZero Solar Asset Mapper records carrying a CC BY-NC 4.0 exception. GDELT Cloud’s present release handling of those TZ-ID rows is not confirmed here, so do not rely on a blanket GEM commercial-reuse statement for them.

V-Dem’s current v16 FAQ says CC BY-SA 4.0, including share-alike for derivative products. For World Bank governance indicators, special conditions for certain underlying component data do not by themselves establish the terms for every published aggregate; check the specific series and source basis.

Maritime AIS position rights are not cleared by the public-port reference’s status. Raw AIS redistribution terms remain uncertain; treat AIS-derived tracks and observations as source-restricted unless and until the applicable feed terms are confirmed. Where source terms are uncertain, contact the publisher or choose a separately licensed source.

FRED terms GEM Global Solar Power Tracker notes V-Dem FAQ World Bank WGI data DOJ FARA eFile AidData source catalog GLEIF Golden Copy

How to reuse a mixed response

Use source-native fields when relying solely on publisher rights. Preserve source record IDs, source URLs, observation dates, release/vintage details, required attributions and non-endorsement notices. Leave out GDELT Cloud-created entity matches, fused canonical-site IDs, model outputs and substantive analytical joins unless your written GDELT Cloud license covers them. Source-only calculations remain subject to upstream terms, including share-alike rules.

GDELT Cloud pages may be linked to or shared by URL. In article results, `top_articles[].url` and `source_urls` identify publisher links; some other `url` fields may link to a GDELT Cloud page. Check the destination. A publisher link does not grant rights to reproduce article text, headlines, photographs, or excerpts.

Questions?

We are happy to clarify product, API, data, or account questions.