[OSM-legal-talk] importing ODBl data

Michael Collinson mike at ayeltd.biz
Thu Sep 20 16:26:10 BST 2012


On 20/09/2012 07:32, Mike Dupont wrote:
> Hi there,
>
> I have a question about imports and the ODBl,
>
> I see that some sources have decided to dual license the data
> http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Import/Catalogue
>
> But how can some third parties data be compatible when the CT says it
> can change any time, surly they might be compatible with the current
> instance of the license, but how can they be compatible with future
> versions of the license when they are no known?
>
> How can a contributor import any data and keep the data open to
> license change? How can you keep any imports at all from people who
> have not agreed to the CT directly?
>
> thanks
> mike
>    
This one has been covered pretty exhaustively previously.  To recap for 
all interested:

() The CTs where written carefully to say, "If you contribute Contents, 
You are indicating that, as far as You know, You have the right to 
authorize OSMF to use and distribute those Contents under our current 
licence terms."  "current license terms", so ODbL 1.0.

() The future is the future, so cannot be known.

() Should the license terms change in the future, there is a possibility 
that imported data may become incompatible. Therefore the original 
licensor needs be contacted for approval. Given the general trend to 
more open data, after what we are all about, that approval may well be 
given.

() Note also that, by design, a duty to provide first level attribution 
is placed on the OSMF. This survives any potential license change and is 
general the most important concern of government organisations.

() The is always the possibility that data may need to be removed and 
that is one of the minuses of imports. That is why it is important to 
always understand third-party licenses and to get general consent of any 
potentially affected, usually national or regional level, OSM mapping 
community before importing.  There is a healthy debate indirectly about 
this going on in the general talk list.

Mike



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