[OSM-talk] Can OSM sources be public domain CC-0(zero)?

Anthony osm at inbox.org
Thu Sep 2 02:52:54 BST 2010


On Wed, Sep 1, 2010 at 9:25 PM, andrzej zaborowski <balrogg at gmail.com> wrote:
> On 1 September 2010 17:40, Anthony <osm at inbox.org> wrote:
>> On Wed, Sep 1, 2010 at 8:59 AM, Niklas Cholmkvist <towardsoss at gmail.com> wrote:
>>> Someone wrote:
>>>> take the coordinates from Google
>>>> Earth/Maps.
>>> I will not. That is a non-free source, the same reason I do not
>>> look/consider Wikimapia(google maps based) or any other proprietary
>>> maps.
>>> OSM may currently be the freest data collection that exists (since
>>> CC-BY-SA-3.0 is legally invalid for OSM data according to Creative
>>> Commons)
>>
>> If OSM data is PD, then so is Google data.
>
> I think the correct term is it's not protected by copyright, not sure
> about PD.  But it may be protected by something else, like a contract.

Contracts can and do "protect" works that are public domain.  Just
because it's "protected" by a contract, that doesn't mean it's not
public domain.  I'd say PD is the right term.

> So even if it was PD you can't make use of this fact because as soon
> as you visit google.com you may be bound by a contract.  If you use it
> without being bound by a contract then (at least in theory) you
> probably are taking advantage of someone breaching their contract with
> google. (that's my understanding anyway)

There's nothing illegal about "taking advantage of someone breaching
their contract".  There's "tortious interference", but that requires
that you *induced* the breach, not merely took advantage of it.

Actually, in most jurisdictions, including mine, there's nothing
"illegal" (tortious or criminal) about breaching a contract with
Google either.

Besides, there's nothing in the Google Terms of Service which says
"you may not make use of the facts you learn by using this website".
That'd just be silly.  Not to mention unconscionable, and therefore
unenforcible.



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