[OSM-legal-talk] Computer-generated derivative

[Frederik Ramm]

Hi,

> And therefore, I presume the same is true if the program is a Flash  
> app (running client-side, of course, albeit with a browser frame  
> around it) which outputs the result as a PDF - which Fred can then  
> save to his local hard drive and/or print. Right?

Since you're asking me personally ;-) yes. You're lucky that the program 
  runs client-side because if it ran server-side then even sending the 
PDF to the user would constitute distribution.

I posted some time ago about CC-BY-SA encouraging people to "shift the 
burden" of creating derivative works further down the line. So instead 
of creating a PDF, the server creates two data streams and shifts them 
to the client, which then creates a PDF. If it was important for the 
client that the PDF could be passed on to third parties, then the client 
could generate two PDFs together with a little executable that would 
combine them on the fly for viewing; this again could then be 
distributed and would shift the burden to the recipient and so on.

If one were sarcastic, one could say that this kind of share-alike 
license tends to produce "bombshell derivatives" which make it easy for 
the unsuspecting user to do wrong. (E.g. a slippy map with an OSM layer 
and a something-whatever-noncommercial layer on top - perfectly viewable 
for you but don't you dare make a screenshot and publish it!)

Bye
Frederik