[OSM-legal-talk] Okay to trace from public-domain USGS DOQs?

[Andy Allan]

On Wed, Feb 11, 2009 at 8:01 PM, Russ Nelson <russ at cloudmade.com> wrote:
> Is it okay to trace into OSM from the public-domain USGS Topographic
> and DOQ (Digital Orthographic Quads) aerial imagery?  I think the
> answer there should be clearly "yes".

IS yes, or SHOULD BE yes? I would suggest either getting confirmation
from terraservice.net (if their Ts&Cs aren't clear, then ask someone)
or since the original imagery is available from somewhere as PD just
bypassing any doubt and go upstream.

Remember the principles of this stuff is better safe than sorry, and
we're not trying to establish any new case law.

Cheers,
Andy