[OSM-legal-talk] Exception in Open Data License/Community Guidelines for temporary file

[Jonathan Harley]

On 29/06/11 11:02, James Livingston wrote:
> To your point, what happens when someone loads a .osm file into JOSM? First, I'd claim that a .osm file is a database. Obviously not a relational database that gets handled by SQL-using software, but still a database. I'd also claim that the in-memory data structures of JOSM form a database too.
>
> The ODbL saud "Database - A collection of material (the Contents) arranged in a systematic or methodical way and individually accessible by electronic or other means offered under the terms of this License". I think the data structures JOSM uses to view and edit certainly qualifies.

I agree - I would say any data structures would qualify. No program can 
do anything useful without data arranged in a systematic or methodical 
way. A hash table or linked list are just as systematic as relational 
tables. As you say, ODbL (and the EU database directive) uses the term 
much more widely than to mean things you can query with some dialect of SQL.

> On 29/06/2011, at 4:25 PM, Frederik Ramm wrote:
>> If I use software that builds an in-memory data structure which you believe to be a database in order to make a produced work, how would you suggest that I fulfil my obligation to make such derived database available on request?
>

In ODbL you have an obligation to EITHER make the database available, OR 
the "method" used to make it - so you could make your software's source 
code available on request, if it's yours to do that with - or if it's 
open source. That lets JOSM, Mapnik etc off the hook from having to 
distribute copies of their internal derived databases.

If it's someone else's proprietary software (as ThomasB suggested), then 
you probably can't publish either the source code or the database. So 
one interpretation would be that, in that case you simply can't use data 
from OSM with that software. (Assuming that the results of the software 
are substantially from OSM and that you want to share them.)

However, since ODbL fails to define what it means by "method", you might 
take a broader interpretation and tell the requester "my method was to 
use software X". I don't know if this would stand up in court, but then 
again, I very much doubt that demands for a derived database which has 
been deleted would either.


Jonathan

-- 
Jonathan Harley    :     Managing Director     :     SpiffyMap Ltd

Email: md at spiffymap.com   Phone: 0845 313 8457   www.spiffymap.com
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