[OSM-talk] Licence of Soviet military topographic maps

[Jaak Laineste]

2010/6/24 Kirill Bestoujev <bestoujev at gmail.com>:
> This is only possible if those countries are nt members of
> international copyright treaties. Russia (and USSR) and UK - are
> members of those treaties. So same laws apply.

 Unfourtunatly http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copyright_law_of_the_Soviet_Union
does not mention anything about maps. Were soviet military maps
subject of copyright within USSR at all? This seems to be the key
question.

According to my common sense, there are several ways how I could
protect my stuff (software, maps, images etc), main ones:
a) copyright laws, automatic
b) try to keep it secret
c) patents, trademarks

 USSR map secrecy was definetly based on option b) and not a); which I
could interpret in a way that copyright does not apply to them. So if
someone somehow has got the maps then this means that secret holder
has just failed to do their job and the maps are therefore public
domain. At least outside Russia, in the terms of Berne convension.
Certainly within Russia there are probably other laws which protect
distribution of military secrets and if you'll go to Russia with the
maps then you can be jailed there.

 Soviets had maps for not only own territory, but globally, up to
1:10.000, covering also e.g. UK. Of course, OS has own opinion about
UK part: http://images.jomidav.com/sovietmaps/OS%20Statement.pdf

 Usually the Soviet maps are not just plain maps: someone has tried to
remove their "encryption", has georetified them, digitized etc. These
derivates are most probably copyrighted by the ones who did the job.
So you need to follow their terms too.

 ps. The fact that someone was jailed in Russia does not mean that
they really had to do something really illegal. It only means that
someone with enough power (like military is) did not like what they
do. And was the case really about copyright violation? I assume it was
rather about military secrets. It is good to know that USSR laws were
often contradicting, so if they do not like you or what you do,
they'll find a way to punish you; and according to my understanding
Russia is quite systematically following similar convinient practise.

Jaak, ex-USSR