On Thu, Jul 9, 2009 at 9:14 PM, Mark Fuller <[email protected]> wrote:
> On Thu, Jul 9, 2009 at 6:07 PM, Ron Savage<[email protected]> wrote: > > However, in a module I'm about to release, I can't ship their database. > > Shouldn't the data be Public Domain? For one thing it is merely a > collection of facts. In the US a collection can be copyrighted to the > extent that it includes some kind of creative expression. (Ex. the > telephone White Pages can't be copyrighted. Too factual. Yellow Pages > can because of the choice of categories, and assigning businesses to > categories). > > A collection of all zip codes in the US seems to be equally > embellished as white pages. > > Also, I thought in the US a government agency's published works are > automatically PD. Zip codes originate from the US Postal Service. > > So, it seems like a private company compiled all the PD zip codes and > calls it protected expression? > > AFAIK, the only thing that would be protected is the *format* they > store it in. Such as a database. But, the raw data remains PD. > > That was my understanding a decade ago. Maybe something has changed. Our company pays for a database of US Zipcodes. You may be able to make your own DB of it with WWW::Mechanize scraping, but the DB is something like 100$ for the latest version. So it's really not even that expensive for an individual to purchase. I can get you details tomorrow if you are still interested. -- fREW Schmidt http://blog.afoolishmanifesto.com ##### CGI::Application community mailing list ################ ## ## ## To unsubscribe, or change your message delivery options, ## ## visit: http://www.erlbaum.net/mailman/listinfo/cgiapp ## ## ## ## Web archive: http://www.erlbaum.net/pipermail/cgiapp/ ## ## Wiki: http://cgiapp.erlbaum.net/ ## ## ## ################################################################
