[OSM-newbies] Footpaths again

[Andre Engels]

On Fri, Mar 19, 2010 at 4:27 PM, James Ewen <ve6srv at gmail.com> wrote:
> So if I copy a complete database of information which is protected by
> copyright, and delete one piece of information, you are saying that I
> have not voilated the copyright of that database.

It depends on the situation. Often that will still break copyright,
because the selection of facts is copyrighted, and that remains that
way if you remove just one.

> That is in direct opposition to everything that is espoused across the
> OSM community ad nauseum.

Yes, and unfortunately so.

> We are told that we can not even look at things like Google Maps to
> check the spelling of a road name due to copyright infringement
> issues.

Which is silly. The name is not copyrighted by Google, so you don't
break their copyright by getting it from them.

> I asked specifically about using a Google Streetview image to read the
> street name off of the signpost, and the consensus was that such an
> action would be in violation of the OSM directive of not creating
> derivative works from a source protected by copyright.

That's a ridiculously extreme definition of 'derivative work'. Why
would you be allowed to use the signpost (with a name that may be
copyrighted, and a design that may be copyrighted) but not a picture
of it? Is Google's copyright so holy that we may not break its
copyright even in the case where it doesn't have copyright, but we are
free to break other people's copyright?

> It is stated that one should not create GPS traces with
> "snap-to-roads" enabled, as the resultant data would be derived from
> the database contained in the GPS device. Obviously the derivatove
> trace would not contain ALL of the data from the database, and as such
> by your definition, would be acceptable for inclusion into OSM.

No, I'm not saying that any part will do. The issue is what
information is copyrighted and what is not. To be copyrighted it must
have a certain minimal level of creativity. The location of a road may
well be copyrighted, as you have to make decisions as to whether or
not include certain curves and such. The name of a road is just a
simple fact, there is no creativity in calling Main Street Main
Street.

> You can't have it both ways.

And which two ways would that be?


-- 
André Engels, andreengels at gmail.com