[OSM-legal-talk] decision removing data

[Anthony]

On Thu, Aug 5, 2010 at 10:50 AM, Anthony <osm at inbox.org> wrote:
> A way is not merely an
> uncreative collection of facts.  There is selection, as to which facts
> to express, and there are even deviations from facts, when the pure
> facts wouldn't look right (consider the merging of two roads, for
> example).

http://www.openstreetmap.org/?lat=27.959666&lon=-82.53844&zoom=18&layers=M

There were quite a lot of creative choices that went into the making
of that work.  Take a look at the GPS traces, and how the ways don't
exactly match them.  Take a look at the split of the road, and how
that was chosen to give the proper look while remaining true to
reality.  Look at the selection of where to put a bridge and where not
to put a bridge, a very subjective decision in this sort of instance.

Yes, there was a lot of sweat of the brow put into the creation of
that map, but there was a lot of creativity and originality as well,
and I'm not talking solely about the creativity or originality of the
people who wrote Mapnik.

Call it "mapping for the renderer" if you want.  Call it a violation
of the rules of OSM.  But that's a copyrightable work.