Please read the NASA Open Source License. In it you will very clearly find the position that FedGov-produced works are not copyrightable FOR US CITIZENS. That license is written as FedGov works ARE copyrighted for everyone else. So yeah, there's a line, and no, we can't avoid the line, and yes, OSM should have a pro-bono lawyer who can give us opinions about what is a reasonable risk and what is not a reasonable risk.
Asking for zero risk is not reasonable. If you want zero risk, don't get out of bed. Wait, you could still be killed in your sleep by a falling airplane like the guy in Buffalo. There is no way to stay away from the line. On Feb 26, 2009, at 4:09 PM, Christopher Schmidt wrote: > On Thu, Feb 26, 2009 at 03:29:20PM -0500, Russ Nelson wrote: >> >> On Feb 26, 2009, at 2:49 PM, Christopher Schmidt wrote: >>> >>> Because the legal jurisdiction in which OSM is based is *not* the >>> US, >> >> This is an important topic. We should consult OpenStreetMap's >> lawyer. With no knowledge of which legal system applies, we can't do >> anything sensible. > > Huh? The doctrine to follow is simple: if there is any chance someone > could claim the data is not "more free" than CC-By, then don't upload > it. If you're not sure, don't upload it. If you think you're sure, but > not 100% sure, don't upload it. > > The OSM policy has always been "If you're asking where the line is, > you're way too close to it." I see no reason not to keep behaving that > way. Consulting a lawyer won't get you anything different anyway; > with so little case law, the answers are always "Maybe". > > Regards, > -- > Christopher Schmidt > MetaCarta -- Russ Nelson - http://community.cloudmade.com/blog - http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/User:RussNelson r...@cloudmade.com - http://openstreetmap.org/user/RussNelson _______________________________________________ Talk-us mailing list Talk-us@openstreetmap.org http://lists.openstreetmap.org/listinfo/talk-us