[Legal-general] Which approach would be the best to import data into PD database?

[Kari Pihkala]

>I'm not sure what makes you think that any data you take from the
>OpenStreetMap database could possibly not be covered by the CC-BY-SA
>license. Everything that's in there is covered, no exceptions. The
>planet file, for instance, is covered by the license - and it doesn't
>say "CC-BY-SA some-of-it, other-bits PD". Neither does the API.

According to the Legal FAQ in the wiki, I'm allowed to do it. Are you saying
that the wiki page has incorrect information? Would you like to edit and
correct it?

Accoring to it: http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Legal_FAQ

"When you upload data to OSM, you are the copyright holder of your data, but
you agree to license it under the terms of this licence. This means only you
can relicense the data. The copyright of the whole data set is scattered
among all contributors... Some contributors release their contributions to
the public domain. "

The copyright of the whole data set is scattered among all contributors -
that would indicate that the data set (database) is partially CC-BY-SA and
partially PD. Also:

"Can I get permission to distribute OSM data under an alternative licence?
The copyright to OSM data is vested in the individual contributors. If you
happen to use data provided solely by one or a few OSM contributors, you can
ask them if they are willing to provide their data to you under a different
license. "

>Now if a contributor (including bulk uploaders) is/are willing to
>*also* put a copy of their data into the public domain, then you
>should enquire from them to receive a copy of their data duly
>licensed. Public Domain is not "viral"; for example just because vast
>amounts of OSM data came from TIGER doesn't mean that any of that data
>in OSM is still public domain.

That would also mean that the OSM Foundation can't change the license from
CC-BY-SA to the new Open Database License (ODbL) by asking the contributors
for a permission? They should ask all contributors to resend a copy of their
data duly licensed??

- Kari
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