[OSM-talk] good news: shapefile usage of ramsar sites for openstreetmap.org

[Morten Kjeldgaard]

On 23/09/2009, at 13.46, Jason Cunningham wrote:

> To repeat, I am not saying the data must not be used, I am simply  
> raising an issue because I think there may be a problem. I don't  
> trust the British Government and OS. I would genuinely surprised  
> (and pleased) if JNCC had paid OS to remove copyright. I also look  
> forward to seeing Ramsar sites added.


Thank you for your reply! I am sorry if my initial message to this  
thread sounded overly harsh.

IANAL, but my perspective on the matter is this: By entering into the  
Ramsar convention, the contracting parties have made certain  
commitments, foremost of course an obligation to take care of the  
protected areas. In addition, the contracting parties have had to make  
certain deliverables, which for example is like is stated in [0],  
point vi):

"Supporting communications, education and public awareness. The  
publicly-accessible Web-based RSIS forms an important component of the  
Convention’s CEPA delivery by ensuring that full and up-to-date  
information on each designated Ramsar site is widely available, in  
order to secure wide public recognition of this key pillar of the  
implementation of the Convention by its Parties."

This suggests to me that the contracting parties cannot withhold  
something as basic as copyright, because that would be a violation of  
their commitments towards the treaty. Finally, it is my impression  
that you cannot hold a copyright on information, only the physical  
(i.e. paper or digital) representation of it. So the information  
contained in the polygonal shape of the affected areas would be free  
for the government to give away. Again, IANAL.

Cheers,
Morten