[OSM-legal-talk] Share-data licence

SteveC steve at asklater.com
Tue Mar 13 13:39:55 GMT 2007


Christopher Schmidt wrote:
> On Fri, Mar 09, 2007 at 06:22:12PM +0100, Frederik Ramm wrote:
>> So the whole discussion is moot, and our data is un-copyrightable?  
>> Sounds great. (Albeit the clever way in which I put the nodes when  
>> mapping that roundabout recently... I'd say it was almost artistic...)
> 
> The prevailing legal opinion -- at least in the US -- is "Yes". Map 
> databases are sets of facts. Facts are not copyrightable. 

Unlike in the EU:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Database_right

Database rights lasts for 15 years under this regime, but can be 
extended if the database is updated. Database right prevents copying of 
substantial parts of a database (including frequent extraction of 
insubstantial parts). However unlike copyright the protection is not 
over the form of expression of information but of the information itself.

>> Alas... I think I remember that the Ordnance Survey seem to take a  
>> different stance as regards their own data?
> 
> Yes. The OS is also famously litigious and has lots of lawyers who are
> presumably paid lots of money to throw enough smoke and mirrors around
> problems that they can get away with this ;) To be slightly less glib,
> you can claim anything -- and sometimes you can even get a judge to
> agree with you, if you're good enough. I don't think the OS's claims on
> copyrightability of map databases has been tested in court yes.
> 
> Regards,

-- 
have fun,

SteveC steve at asklater.com http://www.asklater.com/steve/




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