[OSM-talk] Maps and names

[Lars Aronsson]

Etienne wrote:

> Here's an acid test.  If you copy a name from a map (or remember 
> the name from earlier looking at a map) would you be prepared to 
> attribute the source in OSM using the source:name tag?

Yes, I could state the source to be Wikipedia or Geonet.  This is 
a good practice, regardless of the copyright status, because we 
could check against the next download from the same source if they 
have updated their information, and copy the update.

When some company complains that we've copied their data, we tell 
them that the copy must be in that source and they should not 
allow them to copy the data if we're not allowed to, and so in the 
public eye the company must attack Wikipedia or Geonet or let us 
be.  It seems to me that wholesale copying of Wikipedia's or 
Geonet's coordinates for placenames should provide a much safer 
position for us than entering data without documenting the source.


-- 
  Lars Aronsson (lars at aronsson.se)
  Aronsson Datateknik - http://aronsson.se