SteveC wrote:
Chris Holmes wrote:
Do you have a link to the Database Directive stuff on osm-talk? I
checked
out the list but there's a lot there and wasn't sure which posts
to read.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Database_directive
mostly it just follows from that page... maybe richard could help
more?
Sure. The database right has only been discussed sporadically on
legal-talk so it's probably better to go to the sources. Definitely,
definitely read
http://edina.ac.uk/projects/grade/gradeDigitalRightsIssues.pdf
because it's a very cogent and readable discussion of copyright and
database right as they apply to geodata. It's almost exactly the
question we're asking, the only unknown being that for a
collaborative project like OSM, we also have to consider who owns the
database right - OSM Foundation (maybe as "maker of the database") or
the individual users (traditionally believed to be the copyright
holders in OSM circles).
If you want to know more about EU database right then the definitive
case is William Hill vs British Horseracing Board. Google will turn
up zillions on this, but make sure any commentary you read was
written after the European Courts of Justice ruling (it had been to
lots of prior appeals).
Don't forget differences between jurisdictions:
- US - geodata can't be copyrighted, no database right exists
- EU - geodata can't be copyrighted (according to paper cited above)
but is subject to database right
Insert "maybe" and "probably" in the above sentences until you're
happy with them :)
cheers
Richard
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