[OSM-talk] OpenStreetMap Isn't All That Open, Let's Change That and Drop Share-Alike

moltonel 3x Combo moltonel at gmail.com
Sat Mar 15 18:44:21 UTC 2014


On 15/03/2014, Tobias Knerr <osm at tobias-knerr.de> wrote:
> On 14.03.2014 23:21, moltonel 3x Combo wrote:
>> There's one fairly obvious to me : the share-alike requirement is
>> necessary to enforce the attribution requirement (otherwise any user
>> could just change the license to one that doesn't require
>> attribution).
>
> It would not be legal for them to get rid of the attribution like that.
> Attribution requirements can exist without share-alike, see e.g. CC-BY.

I know it sounds like a glaring loophole that ought to be illegal, but
I have yet to see a paragraph of CC-BY that prevents me to :
* Use the CC-BY material to create an adapted work
* Release the adapted work as PD with attribution (using PD because
I'm not allowed to place additional restrictions)
* Use the PD material to create a private work.

Of course you expect that in that process, only an insubstancial part
of the original CC-BY material would be left. But "insubstancial"
isn't legaly defined, so an unscrupulous user could get unrestricted
access to a lot of data this way and still stand enough of a chance in
court that nobody would bother attacking (especially considering the
fact that CC-BY licensors probably do not care as much as CC-BY-SA
licensors).



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