[OSM-legal-talk] images are Produced Works

Richard Weait richard at weait.com
Tue Mar 3 14:40:08 GMT 2009


On Tue, 2009-03-03 at 11:29 +0000, Andy Allan wrote:
> On Mon, Mar 2, 2009 at 5:10 PM, Richard Weait <richard at weait.com> wrote:
> > My position is that images are Produced Works, not a derived OSM
> > database.
> >
> > Rendered images are a creative work that requires skill and judgement.
> >
> > This is an important use case and ODbL Section 1 Definitions
> > specifically includes "images" in the definition of Produced Work.
> 
> Cool, I definitely agree with you on this, when considering the cycle map.
> 
> However, instead of rasters, what about vector images, e.g. SVG? To me
> they could be construed as mini databases, since they're a structured
> list of attributes and properties. I'd be interested in what you think
> on this.

Dear Andy,

I see SVG as just another image.  Raster or Vector; the image format is
not a problem.  The artist[1] wants to work in svg because it is the
best tool for the project at hand.  Subsequent artistic revisions of the
image may tilt and warp it or extrude it or turn it in to g-codes and
mill a 1:1 scale walk-through.  Don't restrict the image format.  

The problem is behaviour.  In this case the potential problem is Some
Jerk trying to use OSM database without living up to their license
obligations.  The tool used to do this matters not one whit.  Do not ban
all of the tools that could be misused; ban the misuse.  

Do not ban crayons because a child might draw on the walls.  

Best regards,
Richard

P.S.  OpenCycleMap is a wonderful gift to the community.  Thank you. 

[1] Was this made with raster, vector or both?  I don't care.  It is
beautiful.  This took skill and judgement to create.
http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Image:Rutland_Map.png  





More information about the legal-talk mailing list