[OSM-legal-talk] OBbL and forks

[80n]

On Fri, Dec 11, 2009 at 5:44 PM, Anthony <osm at inbox.org> wrote:

> On Fri, Dec 11, 2009 at 5:26 AM, James Livingston <doctau at mac.com> wrote:
>
>> The downside of not requiring copyright assignment is that OSMF can't sue
>> for copyright infringement of the data.
>>
>
> I believe some other projects get around that by assigning the project as
> an agent for the purposes of engaging in a copyright infringement lawsuit.
> Not that I know the exact details or care to know them, as I think it'd be a
> terrible idea.
>
>
>> They could still sue for breach of contract and possible infringement of
>> the database rights (I'm not sure about that, I don't know enough about EU
>> law).
>>
>
> And the original contributors can't sue for breach of contract or
> infringement of the database rights, correct?  In that sense, this is a lot
> *like* a copyright assignment.  Especially since the ODbL only covers the
> database as a whole, not the individual contributions.
>

The original contributors do not own the database right so they have no
basis for sueing.  You have to rely on OSMF to protect your data.

If OSMF doesn't protect your contributions you could try sueing them.  But I
think clause 6.2 of the Contributor Terms would make it very unlikely that
you'd succeed.  "OSMF shall [not] be liable for any special, indirect,
incidental, consequential, punitive, or exemplary damages under this
Agreement, however caused and under any theory of liability."

80n
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