[Osmf-talk] compatible licenses / ODbL

[Paul Norman]

On 1/16/2016 8:31 AM, Martin Koppenhoefer wrote:
> Is there a list of known compatible (or definitely not compatible) 
> licenses for the current ODbL?
> I'm asking because our regional government has released boundary data 
> in cc-by 4.0 and we are asking ourselves if we can use it in OSM.
>
> Another question that stems from a quick research for the above, I 
> have seen here:
> http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Import/Catalogue
> That appearently some cc-by 3.0 data has also been imported since the 
> license change. Is this an indication that cc-by 3.0 is also compatible?

CC BY 3.0 is not compatible because it has onerous attribution 
requirements, except many governments have given explicit permission.

> I am aware that any data that has some strings attached might not be 
> suitable for a potential future relicensing as regulated by the user CTs.

Yes, but ODbL-only data can be imported[1], so a license which might not 
be compatible with some strictly potential future license need not stop 
data use. I'd recommend avoiding custom licenses, but this is to avoid 
license proliferation and other general open data reasons, not anything 
OSM specific.

I'd also recommend that you ask legal questions on the legal-talk@ 
mailing list, as it's more of an OSM question than an OSMF question.