[OSM-legal-talk] How does Google map maker handle copyright

[Erik Johansson]

On Thu, Mar 19, 2009 at 2:43 PM, LeedsTracker <leedstracker at gmail.com> wrote:
> 2009/3/19 Erik Johansson <erjohan at gmail.com>:
>> After reading about the Lithuanian problems I really wonder how Google
>> map maker handles copyright
>>
>> Everytime I tell new OSM users "You can't copy street names from the
>> map" something feels really broken, and most people I talk to have no
>> understanding why they shouldn't copy names from other maps.
>
> I suspect there are legally defendable ways of using some data, but if
> OSM did this it would eventually lead to challenges from Google,
> Ordnance Survey etc.

I'm talking more about how Google Map maker can prevent people from
copying street names from already available maps. GMM has no culture
of doing surveys as far as I can see, making it easier to copy the
streetnames. The GMM moderation guidelines state in a very off hand
manner that you should "look out for copyright violations" ...

Your discussion from February goes from geotagging of photos to
copying data from existing maps. I think the current OSM policy is
making copyright stronger in places where it's currently more or less
free-for-all. Look at GMM and all travel guide books.

/Erik