[OSM-legal-talk] Merano Italy will be donating their data! CC-by-SA and donated data?

[rob at robmyers.org]

Quoting Frederik Ramm <frederik at remote.org>:

> Hi,
>
>
>> We should maintain on each element a cumulative list of contributors as
>> well as the most recent editor.
>
> I am unhappy with this for a number of reasons. Firstly, I don't want
> you to put that list under each road in Osmarender as I suspect you will ;-)

(Smiley detection mode off.)

What is the longest realworld attribution list for a single small  
town? If this is, say, 40 people, then those names in 6 point text  
won't be so bad.

As an alternative, it may be the case that you could provide a URL  
link to an attribution page.

BY-SA 4c again:

"Such credit may be implemented in any reasonable manner;"

A url to a web page might be reasonable. But the important thing is  
the next sentence:

"provided, however, that in the case of a Derivative Work or  
Collective Work, at a minimum such credit will appear where any other  
comparable authorship credit appears and in a manner at least as  
prominent as such other comparable authorship credit."

So for a map you would have to say:

licence and attribution information see http://osm.org/lic/45667

Rather than:

MAP BY ROB "EGO" MYERS, and others see see http://osm.org/lic/45667

IANAL so I don't know whether this works or not though. But it's worth  
considering.

> What would the list of people having touched an object achieve? I don't
> see anything that would merit the effort.

Assuming that they have altered the DB enough for their alterations to  
be eligible for copyright then it is neccessary to attribute them, as  
their work will be BY-SA.

We then get onto which alterations are sufficiently original to be  
legible for copyright.

(Smiley detection mode on.)

- Rob.