[OSM-talk] CC-BY-SA still available? (was: OpenStreetMap License Change Phase 3 Pre-Announcement)

Ed Avis eda at waniasset.com
Wed Apr 13 15:49:25 BST 2011


Dermot McNally <dermotm <at> gmail.com> writes:

>>What's the plan for deciding whether and when to cut off CC-BY-SA
>>distribution?  Would it require a 2/3 vote of contributors?
>
>I guess the problem with continuing to allow CC distribution of the
>data is that that would leave OSM unprotected in those jurisdictions
>where CC isn't recognised for map data. Given that this is a main goal
>of the change,

It's _a_ goal but I think the more important selling points for ODbL/DbCL
are the positive ones - more uses it would permit for the data, for example
distributing map tiles without having to follow any particular licence for them.
In my view the 'negative' selling points - that it would supposedly allow the
OSMF to sue people in all the cases where the map is currently being used
wrongly and we can't do anything - are less central to the project's vision.

Also note that CC-BY-SA 2.0 is simply a grant of rights under copyright law.
If copyright "does not apply", then it has not granted anything.  So in fact
the whole question of whether copyright applies can be sidestepped: people
can agree to differ on this matter and pick the licence to their taste.

In the end, legal reasons aren't the most important ones.  I hope that OSM
can be a broad church.  The aim is for everyone to feel able to agree to the
CTs, whichever faction they belong to, or none.  So it would be good to follow
a broad-based licensing plan that can accommodate everyone.

-- 
Ed Avis <eda at waniasset.com>






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