[talk-au] Google copying from OSM maps

[Steve Bennett]

On Fri, Feb 15, 2013 at 11:32 AM, Barker, Nicholas <nbarker at pb.com.au> wrote:
> Not at all,  it just seemed a bit of a double standard that we are diligent not to copy from other maps and only map what is on the ground...then this appears on Google on their 'cycle track' layer.
>
> If they had mapped it from the ground properly then they would know that it is a very difficult mountain bike course with big jumps and drops, not a paved bike path and i doubt they would have used it in the cycle routing.

Just pointing out the obvious here - in case anyone isn't aware.
Google now supports crowdsourced mapping with the MapMaker tool, so
it's totally possible that either:
- a member of the public mapped it legitimately
- a member of the public mapped it by copying OSM

> Obviously if we copied from Google then that's bad and illegal and we should be punished with big law suits...if Google copies from OSM well then that's OK as it furthers the mapping cause...

Yeah that's my view - I map with the intention of helping the widest
possible range of users. Sometimes I even add stuff to Google Maps
directly! It's not everyone's view though, so we do need to respect
that.

(IMHO much better to spend time mapping than fighting Google though...)

Steve