[OSM-talk] Rights of Way

[Richard Fairhurst]

Nick W wrote:

> Copying the route from an OS or other copyrighted map is a definite no-no.
> I am not sure of the copyright status of the Definitive Maps of the County
> Council, which you can look at by going to the council offices at the
> county capital.

Derived work from the Ordnance Survey. :(

http://enquire.hertscc.gov.uk/ROWGuide/GoodPrac/Sec42.htm

I _suspect_ (IAstillNAL) that you could make a case that the  
non-OS-created content could be extracted without infringing on OS's  
copyright. In other words, if you have a Definitive Map which includes  
a footpath going from one corner of a field to the next, and the next,  
you might be able to get away with saying "this footpath goes from  
this corner, to this corner, to this corner". The act of creativity in  
defining the footpath is (c) the County Council, not the OS, which has  
simply provided the base on which to draw it.

But then, you'd still be lumbered with something that's (c)  
Borsetshire County Council, so you're simply swapping one form of  
Crown Copyright for another.

I wonder whether a host of inaccurate OSM-derived "rights of way", and  
the consequent outcry from landowners when a thousand ramblers go  
trampling over their crops, could perhaps force a future Government to  
rethink this approach. ;)

Richard