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

[Andy Allan]

On Tue, Nov 18, 2008 at 2:31 PM, Kari Pihkala <kari.pihkala at gmail.com> wrote:
>>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?

A wiki being inaccurate? That could never be true!

> Would you like to edit and
> correct it?

No, but thanks for asking.

> 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. "

Perhaps there should be an "also" in that final sentence?

> 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:

That's a non-sequitur. You're mixing up the concepts of copyright and licensing.

> "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. "

That's funny, I'm pretty sure I already said the following:

>>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??

Again, I think you're mixing up the concepts of licensing and
copyright. Or maybe I am. Who knows - but I'd be very careful if I
were you; it's a complex area and your discussions so far about
copying data from OSM and ignoring the license have been somewhat ill
thought through.

Cheers,
Andy