[Touch Diamond, MDA Compact IV General] low.flying.pigs:
In brief response:

When the latest raw data extract, at the time, of that same Geofabrik Sub Region: Europe / Germany / Nordrhein-Westfalen / Regierungsbezirk Köln, was rendered using default rules as detailed in post 2294 section 7, 3.1GB to 3.2GB was used as per screen grabs 1, 2 and 3.

RAM requirements of Maperitive vary dependent on raw data to be rendered. RAM is more important than processing speed. Relatively low memory and low processing speed machines can render relatively quickly if the amount of raw data and levels are in proportion.

There are essentially two options:

1. Use a system with sufficient hardware resources for the pre packaged extract of raw data, such as those from Geofabrik.

2. Use a smaller extract of raw data within the capability of the hardware / split area in to smaller parts. Maperitive includes functionality to manually select custom areas and download raw data extracts only for that selected area. In brief, from the Tools menu, select 'Set Geometry Bounds'. On map display, adjust the red box accordingly. Select either 'Download OSM Data' option to download raw data for the area inside the box. Ensure the downloaded raw data is the map source, then render that data. Repeat as necessary until whole area desired is rendered.

In brief response:

Typically, 'generated' in the context of the question usually means bulk download of pre rendered tiles from a Tile Server, and not rendering from raw data.

In either case, there are essentially two fundamental elements with regards to Copyright in the context of such OpenStreetMap based maps:

1. Copyright exists in the OpenStreetMap raw data from which tiles are rendered. This raw data is always Copyright and always requires attribution. See here. When correctly attributed, this does not prevent legitimate distribution in the manner described.

2. Copyright can exist in the tiles, in the rendering rules that created the tiles from raw data and / or in the resultant particular visual style and appearance. This may or may not prevent legitimate distribution in the manner described.

The rendering rules provided with the lastest version of Maperitive, 2.3.32 at the time of writing, are subject to Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 License. See here. Subject to the correct attributions, tiles rendered from raw data with standard rules would appear freely distributable. However, it should be noted that for all rendering rules, there may or may not arise issues if any rule was deemed sufficiently similar, and producing sufficiently visually similar tiles to another source that did not wish its tiles, or approximations of them, distributed in the manner described.

For all sources, tile servers or rendering rules, if there is no explicit statement that distribution in the manner described either is or is not allowed, before proceeding, enquiries should be made with the applicable parties to obtain explicit written permission, so as to avoid potential unnecessary legal unpleasantness at a later date.

If in doubt, seek qualified legal advice. Individuals are responsible for their own actions.

low.flying.pigs