[OSM-legal-talk] Copyright and database right for geodata

[Frederik Ramm]

Hi,

> - OSM data is not copyrightable in the US
> - OSM data is subject to database right in the EU
> - our current licence is not applicable in either the US or EU
> - in the EU, some uses may be permitted anyway, no matter what we say

There's a moral question arising from this.

 From my own pro-PD postings I know that there are some users who have 
contributed to OSM strictly under the assumption that it would, by 
providing map data on a share-alike basis, help to create a "domain of 
freedom" (and a better world, and so on). These people say they wouldn't 
have contributed to a project under PD.

If we now find out that we have, unwillingly and unknowingly, misled 
these users, and that their contributions are in fact not subject to a 
share-alike license, at least in major jurisdictions and for a much 
broader array of potentential uses than they thought was allowed...

...do we then have the moral obligation to contact these users and ask 
them if they're still willing to share their work, and if they aren't, 
or cannot be reached, remove these users' contributions from our database?

Bye
Frederik

-- 
Frederik Ramm  ##  eMail frederik at remote.org  ##  N49°00.09' E008°23.33'