[OSM-legal-talk] Crown copyright, OS and year of publication
Hi All, On the wiki for out of copyright maps, it states: Maps published by the Ordnance Survey are Crown Copyright as stipulated in the terms of The Copyright, Designs and Patent Act 1998 (http://www.opsi.gov.uk/acts/acts1988/Ukpga_19880048_en_1.htm). Therein, Chapter X. Section 163, states: *snip* (b) if the work is published commercially before the end of the period of 75 years from the end of the calendar year in which it was made, until the end of the period of 50 years from the end of the calendar year in which it was first so published. Since most Ordnance Survey maps have been published and and are classed as literary or artistic works produced by a government organisation, not one indetifiable person, Crown Copyright on them expires 50 years after the end of the calendar year in which a mapsheet was FIRST published. http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/index.php/Out_of_copyright Is that interpretation about the FIRST year of publication definitely correct? Or should it be the year of last update? Has this been discussed before? If this is not correct, or it is uncertain, the wiki page should be updated. Regards, Tim ___ legal-talk mailing list legal-talk@openstreetmap.org http://lists.openstreetmap.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/legal-talk
Re: [OSM-legal-talk] Crown copyright, OS and year of publication
Tim Sheerman-Chase wrote: http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/index.php/Out_of_copyright Is that interpretation about the FIRST year of publication definitely correct? Or should it be the year of last update? Has this been discussed before? The FIRST is pretty meaningless. The 1954 revision of a map was first published in 1954. The 1959 revision of a map was first published in 1959... and so on. All that means is that a simple reprint doesn't create a new copyright. Where the wiki page says: Consider this actual example for OS 2.5 inch map NZ25 (edition code B/): Made and published by the Director General of the Ordnance Survey, Chessington, 1954. Reprinted with corrections 1959. The date of first publication is by definition the stated date of publication and for this mapsheet is 1954 (not 1959, which indicates it is only a reprint made in 1959). Thus, for this mapsheet Crown Copyright will have expired at 24.00UTC December 31st 2004, even though it shows information correct as of 1959. ...then I believe it's wrong. It's not only a reprint made in 1959, it's a reprint with corrections, and if those corrections are substantial enough to be copyrightable, then a new copyright applies from 1959. The section in question was written by a contributor signing themselves Geo and with no other changes to the OSM wiki to their name. I'll update it. FWIW, I've always erred very much on the side of caution for the NPE scans, using 50 years after the last possible date as the cut-off. cheers Richard ___ legal-talk mailing list legal-talk@openstreetmap.org http://lists.openstreetmap.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/legal-talk
