[OSM-legal-talk] Cloudmade

[Iván Sánchez Ortega]

El Viernes, 3 de Octubre de 2008, Adrian escribió:
> Presumably then using a OSM data to produce travel directions is all
> fine if the end point coordinates are known. If, other the other hand,
> the start and end points (sorry, this is going to get UK specific) are
> postcodes and the coordinates derived from Code-Point then the route
> will be derived from both Ordnance Survey data and OSM data.

Well, that depends.

See, right now OSM's license (CC-by-sa) and point of view is based on 
copyright. The upcoming license (ODbL + OFIL) is based on the european 
database directive, plus the delief that factual data is, um, facts.

If your point of view is copyright, then the postcode coordinates are 
copyrighted by OS (and/or royal mail*); the route would be a derivate product 
of OS and OSM data.

* I don't know the specifics of UK

If your point of view is the database directive + facts, then getting the two 
individual postcode coordinates is something called "extraction of a 
non-substantial part of the data", which is completely allowed. And, the data 
you've extracted are facts, and thus not subject to copyright. So, you can do 
whatever you want with those coordinates, no strings attached.


You should contact a lawyer, and know OS' point of view about the issue before 
doing business with these kind of things.


IMHO, OSM will be a pioneer by assuming this position. I don't know how OS and 
other NMAs will respond to the new OSM license and point of view over map 
data ownership. There will be interesting times ahead, indeed.


> In this situation using the route internally would be OK, but
> distributing it outside of an organisation would be impossible (because
> of OS copyright?) Or would it the recipient just be unable to exercise
> their CC-By-SA rights?

*If* you are assuming that the postcode coordinates are (c) OS, then you 
couldn't ""mix"" them with OSM data, and would be infringing either OS' 
copyright or a fellow OSM mapper's copyright.

In other words, choose your poison: either infringe OS' copyright, or become 
in breach of the CC-by-sa license.


Now, you should weight the risks: Is OS going to sue you for using the 
postcode coords internally? Is some OSM mapper or the OSMF going to sue you 
for the same reason?


If you assume the database+facts position, then you wouldn't be breaching the 
CC-by-sa in any way, but the OS *might* think differently, and sue you.


Cheers,
-- 
----------------------------------
Iván Sánchez Ortega <ivan at sanchezortega.es>

Have a place for everything and keep the thing somewhere else; this is not
advice, it is merely custom.
		-- Mark Twain
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