[OSM-legal-talk] Is there a PD part in OSM?

[Frederik Ramm]

Hi,

On 21.10.2012 11:28, Martin Koppenhoefer wrote:
> Is it possible to download this data from OSM servers (or
> mirrors/extracts/elaborations from this) under a cc-by-sa or ODbL
> license and still consider it PD due to the dual licensing, the user
> has expressed he wishes his data to be under?

A very short answer since elaborations on details can indeed be found in 
the archives, as Jukka wrote.

1. The legal effect of the "PD declaration" is unclear due to several 
reasons, one of them being that some users probably didn't really know 
what the checkbox meant, another being that there's no PD in some countries.

2. Even if we assume that the legal effect was binding, OSMF can choose 
to exercise database rights (which apply to the collection of things, 
even if the individual things are free) and assert that the whole 
collection and any substial extract is under ODbL and ODbL only. I would 
assume that since OSMF have not made a statement to the contrary, this 
is the status quo.

3. This leads to the interesting side effect that someone downloading 
his own data from OSM would be bound by ODbL for his own data as well. I 
find that a little strange and I guess there will be some loophole to 
make it not so ;)

Bye
Frederik

-- 
Frederik Ramm  ##  eMail frederik at remote.org  ##  N49°00'09" E008°23'33"