On 7 December 2010 21:01, andrzej zaborowski <balr...@gmail.com> wrote: > > Can you explain what "You do not need to guarantee that [contributed > data is compatible with our license]" means? Since OSMF is not bound > to remove such conflicting data is there any possibility a user can > submit such data without automatically being in violation of the third > party's rights?
Well, if a contributor contributes data over which there is some IP right, then that may constitute a form of secondary infringement by the contributor. There's no way to avoid this. Putting a contractual provision requiring the contributor to warrant compliance, won't stop them being liable if they make a mistake (although it might make them more careful). I doubt that imposing a duty on OSMF to remove any data which they discover to be unlawful would help (there's still a high chance of some form of secondary infringement). Imposing a duty to remove any data which would be unlawful for OSMF to distribute whether OSMF knows or not (in other words transferring the warranty to OSMF) would impose an serious burden on OSMF to guard contributors from their own mistakes. It could be done, but it would require serious thought. So, I think your objection has substance, but it is directed at the wrong thing. > > (I have the same doubt about not guaranteeing compatibility with > future OSM licenses) Well, that's an impossibility (its hard enough to check compatibility with existing licenses). If OSMF agrees to make reasonable efforts to remove offending data, that should be enough to absolve any contributor of secondary liability. "We want to respect the intellectual property rights of others" may be enough to do the trick. Some relatively modest statement such as "and we will do our best to make sure that we do" or words to that effect would be even better. Bear in mind that secondary liability requires something like authorisation or joint infringement. Neither of those is likely where a contributor, in good faith, submits data on the basis that OSMF does not wish to violate IP rights. -- Francis Davey _______________________________________________ legal-talk mailing list legal-talk@openstreetmap.org http://lists.openstreetmap.org/listinfo/legal-talk
