[OSM-legal-talk] Removal of CC-SA-BY licensed data from OSM after ODbL takes effect

[Ævar Arnfjörð Bjarmason]

The ODbL FAQ[1] currently has two questions[2][3] that deal with the
planned removal of the CC-BY-SA licensed data that will still be left
in the OSM database after the switchover to ODbL is made and users
will be asked to opt to relicense their contributions under the new
license.

What I'd like to ask is for more specifics on how the foundation
intends to carry out this task, questions I haven't found answered on
the wiki or by searching through the mailing list archives, in
particular:

Currently, the recommended policy for OSM goes above and beyond what
most would consider copyright infringement of non-free map data. For
instance it is recommended that editors not reference other maps while
editing to see where something is approximately located, or to get an
idea of what's incomplete in the area they're mapping.

When the ODbL switch is made and users are asked to re-license their
contributions a lot of those contributions may be derived from other
users who may not choose to re-license their data, and there may not
be sufficient information in the database to ascertain that this is
the case.

To name an example; User A adds node X indicating a POI based on local
knowledge and the surrounding road network, previously surveyed by
user B. When the transition is made user A opts-in to dual-license his
CC-BY-SA contributions under the ODbL but user B does not. Even if all
of user B's contributions and any contributions directly based on his
are deleted once the license transition is made the database will
still be left with CC-BY-SS licensed work in violation of user B's
copyright.

Most editors of OSM have probably derived data from other users in
this or similar ways, how should the conversion be done so that the
end result isn't that a lot of CC-BY-SA derived work isn't left in the
data?

Unless a way is worked out to weed out CC-BY-SA data in a satisfying
fashion the database will likely always contain CC-BY-SA-derived works
with accompanying results. So getting some more details on how how
this mass-deletion is going to be carried out would be quite
informative.

And even if the conversion is successful I'll seldom be able to use
foreign data as basis for mapping as OSM will be a license island, in
a time of wide CC-BY-SA proliferation when algorithms are being
developed to render 3d models based on normal flickr-esque tourist
photography are being developed.

Another potential issue with the conversion is the plan to bring up
some sort of dialog that asks users to relicense their contributions
as a Yes/No dialog[2]. In my case I can't relicense all my
contributions since I've derived data from other maps, photographs and
other media that was CC-BY-SA licensed. There needs to be a way to
only re-license some of your contributions.

Finally, in the license FAQ Steve Coast wrote "We may take the view
that those who have made small contributions, but cannot be contacted,
would relicence their data under the new licence."[3].

Only the copyright holder can grant you permission to distribute their
work under a given license. You can't relicense data ex post facto
without permission, that's copyright infringement. No matter what the
legal troubles of re-using OSM data under CC-BY-SA they would be they
would be greater if some of the database was under ODbL, and other
parts of it under CC-BY-SA were distributed along with it under the
flag of ODbL in violation of contributor's copyright, even if their
contributions were comparatively small.

1. http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Open_Data_License_FAQ
2. http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Open_Data_License_FAQ#How_will_the_switch_take_place.3F
3. http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Open_Data_License_FAQ#What_happens_if_not_everyone_agrees.3F
4. http://news.cnet.com/8301-17939_109-10017281-2.html