[OSM-legal-talk] Q&A with a lawyer

Frederik Ramm frederik at remote.org
Tue May 12 09:37:28 BST 2009


Hi,

Simon Ward wrote:
> I’m (still) of the opinion that we shouldn’t just throw copyright to the
> wind in this way while some people (OS, for example) believe they can
> exercise copyright over elements of geodata, and not just database
> right.  They might be right, or wrong.  I hope they’re wrong, but it’s
> not very well tested.

Agreed that it would be *more effective* so say "let's just claim 
copyright on contents, just as the proprietary data guys do, even if we 
don't believe in it, just to be on the safe side".

However, not everything that is more effective is also morally superior. 
If the OS go after what they call "violators" in lawsuits that many of 
us believe are frivolous, would we really want to go after "violators" 
with lawsuits of the same kind (or threaten to do so) "just to be on the 
safe side"?

Claiming copyright on something where you are not reasonably sure of 
actually having it is, in my eyes, a FUD maneouvre worthy of players 
like the OS, but something that we should make an attempt to steer clear of.

Bye
Frederik





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