On 2 September 2010 03:25, Anthony <o...@inbox.org> wrote: > On Wed, Sep 1, 2010 at 6:04 PM, Francis Davey <fjm...@gmail.com> wrote: >> "maps" are expressly treated as "artistic works" by s.4(2)(a) of the >> Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988 (to give a UK perspective). > > Pretty much the same thing in the US. "pictorial, graphic, and > sculptural works" are included as examples of copyrightable works, and > "maps" are included under "pictorial, graphic, and sculptural works". > >> Whether some or all of the OSM is a "map" is another question - which >> I guess is the one you are asking. > > Well, not really. First of all, I'd say Mapnik tiles are clearly part > of OSM, and I don't think there's any dispute that Mapnik tiles are > maps. But furthermore, when it comes to the OSM database itself, I > agree with Assistant County Attorney Lori Peterson Dando that "a GIS > database [is] essentially a computerized map" and "may be entitled to > protection under copyright law, not only as a compilation, but as a > 'pictorial' or 'graphic' work as well" (see Open Records Law, GIS, and > Copyright Protection: Life after Feist, > https://www.urisa.org/files/Dandovol4no1-4.pdf). > >> I just wanted to make the point that "images" isn't a category much used in >> copyright >> definitions > > Well, in this case we were talking about the definition as used in CC-BY-SA > 3.0. > > I'd certainly argue that "maps", as used in that license, include GIS > databases like the OSM database, and I'd use Ms. Peterson Dando's > comment that a GIS database is "essentially a computerized map" as > evidence.
I'd argue that in a big part this may be a result of the changed meaning of the word map and not the "intent" of that law. Some decades ago it was very difficult to create a map that didn't include a great deal of interpretation of facts and creativity, or at least expertise, but today it's possible to extract just the factual part and store in a database with just a little bit of interpretation which can be accounted to errors or artifacts of digitisation, all this without knowing more than using a gps. I wonder how much you can abuse this to get protection of copyright, for example by building something of which your database is a map and then claiming copyright. Cheers _______________________________________________ legal-talk mailing list legal-talk@openstreetmap.org http://lists.openstreetmap.org/listinfo/legal-talk
