[OSM-legal-talk] Transformed OSM data and CC-BY-SA

[Jeffrey Martin]

If they copy data from the OSM project without creating a derivative
then I would think they wouldn't have to release any information about
their proprietary file format because the original data is available from
OSM.

If they mix OSM data with other data then the question of being a derivative
comes up. That issue is separate from the proprietary file format question.
If they have created a derivative then I believe they can make that derivative
available without releasing details about their proprietary file format.

I suppose my opinion is that all the regular derivative questions are
still there,
but using a proprietary storage method by itself does not create a derivative
work.

On Nov 8, 2007 5:21 PM, Rob Myers <rob at robmyers.org> wrote:
> I Am Not A Lawyer, This Is Not Legal Advice.
>
> Henk Hoff wrote:
> > I'm talking with a local Dutch company specialized in GPS-equipment.
> > They are interested in using OSM data on mainstream GPS-devices. (Just
> > in case: no, the company's name is not TomTom ...).
>
> :-)
>
> > During the meeting we stumbled across an issue on the licensing. Let's
> > say: a company would use the OSM data, transform it to a proprietary
> > format that can be used by specifiek GPS-devices. Is that company
> > allowed to sell that product without having to release it in public
> > (under the CC-BY-SA license)?
>
> If the product is the data or the data with additional software then no.
> The data must still be BY-SA (the software needn't be). They can charge
> for it on CD, they don't have to put it on a public web server or
> anything, but they cannot stop people copying the data from the CD once
> someone has paid for it.
>
> If the format counts as "technological measures" then this will break
> the licence, but I don't know whether simple proprietary-ness is enough
> to do this.
>
> If the product is a piece of hardware with the data pre-installed then I
> don't know. They really would need to ask a lawyer. The cc-licenses list
> might know.
>
> One thing that may be worth pointing out is that they don't have to
> release their formatted version of the data to the public for free. They
> can charge for it on a CD as the only way of receiving it from them. But
> they can't stop anyone copying the data from a paid CD and giving it to
> their friends.
>
> > Just to make clear: they are willing to donate data and promote OSM etc
> > etc. No problems here. We're only talking about the same data, but in a
> > different format.
>
> The issue from the point of view of the licence is whether users
> continue to receive the data under the same licence. Changing the format
> doesn't affect this requirement. A piece of read-only hardware may
> change it in practice (think iPod) but only once the data is on it.
>
> So: They have to distribute the data BY-SA but they can charge for
> distribution, they just can't stop people copying it. If they distribute
> the GPS devices with the data already on then I don't know what the
> issues are.
>
> You might like to ask the cc-licences list:
>
> http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/cc-licenses
>
> - Rob.
>
>
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