[OSM-legal-talk] Exemptions from Contributor Terms

[James Livingston]

Hi all,

I asked about this a while ago in the middle of another thread, but didn't get an answer.

When switching to ODbL we have to deal with the licensing of imported data, but even if it gets relicensed to ODbL or a compatible license, there is the Contributor Terms to deal with. We either need to get the copyright holder's agreement, or exempt the dataset from requiring CT agreement and so require the copyright holders permission for any future re-licensing.


Knowing if an exemption would be good will require a decision about whether the benefit of the dataset outweighs the cost of being tied to the copyright holder for future relicensing. For example I imagine the AND data would be considered useful enough but my personal contributions wouldn't be.

I wanted to know what the guidelines for what gets an exemption are, how to apply, and how a decision gets made. I'm asking because there are several CC-licensed[0] datasets we've imported for Australia, and I've got another decent size one I'm getting ready (national parks, state forests and conservation areas). Knowing if it's safe to import, or a waste of time because I can't get an exemption, would be good.


[0] CC-BY 2.5 Au specifically, please send any discussion of it's compatibility with ODbL to it's own thread.

-- 
 James