[OSM-legal-talk] [OSGeo-Discuss] Promoting freely available geodata

[Richard Fairhurst]

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