[Openstreetmap] Which CC Licence for Data-Sets?

[Schuyler Erle]

* On 22-Feb-2005 at  4:09PM PST, Matt Amos said:
> 
> i think an SA license would encourage companies to get involved in OSM 
> and improve it, as some do with the Linux kernel, rather than just 
> rip it off. 

I think this could be true of any Open license. The thing is that
some companies need legal review of each license they accept and use,
which costs time and money.

> maybe we need to think of the map equivalent of the LGPL, where 
> linking (i.e: using as a base layer, perhaps) is allowed, but all 
> other modifications (correcting positions, adding features, etc...) 
> requires SA?

I think that this is precisely what needs to be clarified. When
talking about maps, there are two things that potentially qualify as
intellectual product: the underlying data sets, and the visualization
of those data sets.

I would be happy with a license that permits unlimited distribution of
visualizations of Openstreetmap data, alone or in concert with other
data sets, provided attribution (i.e. name and URL) is given to the
Openstreetmap project (which can host its own roll call of individual
contributors). However, I would prefer that any distribution of
modified, improved, or updated Openstreetmap data be perforce
unlimited as well.  This would allow small businesses to make use of
the dataset without having to give away their own data as well. On the
other hand, it would require a company with the resources to improve
the dataset itself to return that work to the community.

SDE