[OSM-talk] Maps and names

[Emil]

On 9/3/06, Etienne <80n80n at gmail.com> wrote:
> It probably makes a big difference if the copying is small scale or large
> scale.  If 3,000 different users all add one Ordnance Survey sourced name to
> OSM then that is probably no different from one user adding 3,000 names.
> The latter would almost certainly be copyright infringing and I'm sure a
> good lawyer could argue that the former is the same.

I still don't think facts can be copyrighted. If I obtain a piece of
factual information from a map, such as the street at x is called y,
then this is merely a fact about the world, and not something that can
be copryighted.

As such it would be irrelevant how many facts were copied - er, well
copied isn't the best word. "Referenced" might be better.

Emil