[Talk-us] Can US OSM help with license upgrade? (was: Re: License Upgrade - Stage Two Begins)

[Apollinaris Schoell]

On Mon, Aug 16, 2010 at 1:26 PM, Dale Puch <dale.puch at gmail.com> wrote:

> A real problem is that the data itself is not properly tagged, or does not
> explicitly state what if any restrictions are placed on it.  When it is not
> perfectly clear is when non-lawyers like us are putting themselves and OSM
> in possible trouble.
>
> if it's not tagged we must assume it is under copyright and not PD


> A few examples:
> The web site has copyright notices on it, but the shape file data for
> access is blank but asks for attribution...
>   An e-mail response regarding this is that we can use it with
> attribution.   What satisfies the attribution, and is that e-mail valid
> permission for the data use?
>

I think email has been used in many cases in court, so let's assume good
faith if there is an email. Even if you have a written letter you will not
do research to prove that the signature is real. that the letter is from the
company and the signer is allowed to sign such a permit


>
> Some place charge a fee to get the data, but is it then free to then copy
> and reuse?
>

as long as the fee is cost of distribution then  data itself may still be PD

Official state clearinghouses (usually a university) will sometimes edit the
> shape files to include copyright, even though the source data was
> specifically not.
> Free to get and use for personal use is not equal to public domain.
>
>
Exactly, this is no longer PD and you need the original source. But it will
be impossible for anyone to prove that you took their non free data. they
can add easter eggs so better to stay away from using such data



>
>
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