[OSM-talk] namespaces and copyright

[Christopher Schmidt]

Further discussion on this topic is probably best relegated to the
legal-talk list:
http://lists.openstreetmap.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/legal-talk

On Fri, Apr 25, 2008 at 01:23:05PM +0100, elvin ibbotson wrote:
> Chris Hill is worried about copyright issues with climbing routes and  
> this is like lots of concerns I have seen expressed such as taking  
> street names from actual street signs rather than from copyrighted  
> material. If it's the name of the street, it's the name of the  
> street, no matter how or where it is communicated. Not only am I not  
> an expert on databases but I am equally ignorant of the finer points  
> of copyright law. But PLEASE! A street name cannot be copyright and  
> printing it on a piece of paper or causing it to appear on a screen  
> is hardly the stuff of intellectual property. 

Copyright isn't the ony kind of intellectual property. In general,
copying *one* street name off of a map would certainly not be a
violation of coypright -- you can't copyright facts -- but you can (in
the UK, and other parts of the world) hold intellectual property in
*collections of facts* (typically referred to as 'database right'). This
means that deriving the 'one' street is not a violation, but deriving
many could be seen to be a 'significant extract' which is in violation
of those database rights.

As I said, the legal-talk list is the best place to continue discussion
on this topic, but it's not as clear cut and simple as it would be
wonderful for it to be.

 <snip>

>If not, I  would like to see them sue.

This statement is exactly the *opposite* of what the OSM Foundation
probably feels. Lawsuits cost money. OSM doesn't have the kind of
resources that allow it to consider defending a suit a reasonable path
at this time, and thus, it takes the 'moral high ground' by avoiding
all the issues involved and playing it completely safe, as is the best
position for a project of this nature to take.

Regards,
-- 
Christopher Schmidt
MetaCarta