[OSM-newbies] Starting with JOSM and OpenStreetMap in general

[Gervase Markham]

Rick Collins wrote:
> Perhaps there is something with this I don't understand.  All of the 
> data I have seen on Terraserver is just USGS data that is 
> reformatted.  How can Microsoft claim any sort of copyright on this 
> data?  How could Microsoft claim that you used "their" data to edit 
> your maps when it is the same data as provided by the USGS?

In order to make OSM maps directly from Terraserver, you would need to 
prove two things:

1) That all of the aerial imagery you used was from the USGS.

2) That Terraserver had not made sufficient changes or alterations to 
the data in order to be able to assert an independent copyright on the 
changes.

3) That the terms of use they offer for the servers (in return for using 
their processing power and bandwidth) did not prevent it.

Proving 1) would require either that you ascertain that the USGS is 
their sole data source (for the USA), or for Terraserver to give you 
some idea of whose data you are looking at at any time.

Proving 2) would require you to know exactly what they have done with 
the data (e.g. re-orthorectified it, processed it in other ways) and get 
a lawyer's opinion that those changes were not enough to establish a 
copyright.

Proving 3) would require reading the terms of use. I don't know if these 
are the right ones, but http://www.terraserver.com/help_faq_terms.asp says:
"All images purchased from TerraServer and their derivatives are subject 
to the copyright agreement given by TerraServer. Any manipulation of an 
image from TerraServer does not automatically make it your own."

>> We tend to think of GPS logs as being primary survey evidence, editing
>> them beyond simply removing points breaks that assumption.
> 
> I don't know who you are, but you sound as if you are speaking for 
> the project.  If what you are saying is true, then you are asking 
> that inaccurate data be entered rather than comparing it to maps to 
> clean it up.

No, he's saying that currently, all GPS logs stored on OSM servers are 
definitely free of any rights problems. If you upload GPS logs which you 
have not personally collected with a unit, that becomes no longer 
necessarily true.

Gerv