[OSM-legal-talk] [DRAFT] Contributor Terms 1.2

[andrzej zaborowski]

Hi,

On 18 November 2010 11:24, Francis Davey <fjmd1a at gmail.com> wrote:
> On 18 November 2010 10:14, Ed Avis <eda at waniasset.com> wrote:
>>
>> OK, in that case this needs to be clarified too, since we have all confused
>> ourselves on this list, and if we have done so others might too.
>>
>> So, in that case, if you must give sufficient permission to allow OSMF to choose
>> (pretty much) any licence it wants in future, it would not be possible to add
>> third-party data released under anything less than fully-permissive terms, even
>> if it happened to be compatible with the licence OSM uses at present.
>
> No. That's not the case and on this point the draft licence *is* clear
> enough in my view. Its important to read the existing draft as is,
> rather than recalling what earlier drafts said.
>
> The existing draft aims to allow:
>
> - the addition of data that the contributor themselves can licence -
> in this case the contributor grants a perpetual licence to OSMF to
> relicense it under whatever current licence is being used (subject to
> conditions that are being discussed - but "free and open" of some
> kind), you need the CT to license the data somehow, or OSMF won't know
> what they can do with it
>
> - addition of data licensed under some other licence which looks like
> (to the contributor) it is compatible with the OSMF's current licence
> - there is no need for the contributor to be sure about this, but OSMF
> makes it clear that this is what it would like

I think I have the same question about this as David Groom:

The OSMF tells me that I'm allowed to contribute data owned by
somebody else which is compatible with the license currently used, but
I acknowledge that they may change the license later.  But, is it
"legal" for me to contribute that data, knowing that the OSMF may
eventually distribute it under an incompatible license? (if they don't
decide to immediately delete it, which they avoid to pledge to do in
the CT)

So OSMF tells me I can do something -- they don't mind, but am I not
exposing myself to legal consequences if I do that?

To better show this with some worst case scenario, imagine I upload
data I'm given by a 3rd party under a license compatible with The
Current License, the OSMF then at some point changes its license to
one that is incompatible and for a short period keeps redistributing
my data under it.  During this time someone downloads it and is
granted that new license and excercises the rights he is granted.  The
3rd party author of the data decides that he has suffered some sort of
damage and seeks the person responsible for the damage to repair it.
Me as a contributor will be the responsible party.

Let's say this does not happen, but by agreeing to the CT and
contributing that data, I'm allowing such a scenario to happen with a
very small probability.  Is this by itself not a violation of the
third party's license?

Cheers