[OSM-legal-talk] [OSM-talk] ODbL vs CC-by-SA pros and cons

[Francis Davey]

On 31 August 2010 16:00, Robert Kaiser <kairo at kairo.at> wrote:
>
> No, but it is signing a paper that states exactly which information (all
> your OSM data? all your GNU code?) is handed over to a specific entity (the
> OSMF? the FSF?) in terms of copyright entirely and it's up to that entity to
> license it as they please - possible with certain restrictions (like always
> making it available with a free and open license, as the CT states).

If you don't care about what someone does with your copyright work,
then you can certainly assign the copyright (or database right or
whatever) to that someone without a great deal of difficulty. You can
also assign some or all of what you have created (or in many
jurisdictions and with some more careful restrictions, what you will
create).

If you want to restrict what the person you assign to does with the
copyright, then either you want to avoid assigning and retain
ownership - a suitably drafted exclusive licence could have that
effect in England and Wales, or you want Isome kind of reversion on
condition subsequent could also work, though it would be more
complicated.

Agreeing with the person you assign to that they will only use the
copyright in certain ways won't protect you against a subsequent
assignee of the copyright (eg OSMF assigns to XXX Ltd), subject to
certain exceptions.

-- 
Francis Davey