[OSM-legal-talk] (Not) "Removing" data

[Michael Collinson]

I have been away from the grand fray for several weeks due to 
personal matters and have been catching up with threads on this 
list.  One question, I think from Liz, was "who decided to remove 
data". That got me thinking as there was never any explicit decision 
point. Therefore I have a question which is more moral and ethical 
than legal at this point.

We get a high proportion of data under ODbL and decide to switch over 
to it. If someone does not accept the new license, (I am really 
thinking of folks who never respond) and we have reasonable made 
efforts to reach them, are we really obligated to remove their data 
from the ODbL live database unless they exert their original 
copyright and request us to do so?  A common mantra is that copyright 
does not mean much unless exerted. Views? Precedents?

Mike