Re: [OSM-legal-talk] legal-talk Digest, Vol 93, Issue 1
Here in Brazil software is covered by copyright law, not patent law, meaning that computer programs are treated like books, movies, etc. Furthermore, registration is not required for authorship. Any means proving that someone created some piece of art or other intellectual work (computer software included) at a given date is legal evidence. An example is a registered mail sent to oneself prior to any claims or even registration and opened before the judge will legally assure you authorship. Also, I am pretty sure segmentation algorithms are out there much before such patent application. 2014-06-04 9:00 GMT-03:00 legal-talk-requ...@openstreetmap.org: Send legal-talk mailing list submissions to legal-talk@openstreetmap.org To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit https://lists.openstreetmap.org/listinfo/legal-talk or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to legal-talk-requ...@openstreetmap.org You can reach the person managing the list at legal-talk-ow...@openstreetmap.org When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific than Re: Contents of legal-talk digest... Today's Topics: 1. Google awarded patent on automatic correction of road geometry from imagery (Michael Collinson) -- Message: 1 Date: Wed, 04 Jun 2014 11:26:46 +0200 From: Michael Collinson m...@ayeltd.biz To: OSM Licensing and other legal discussions. legal-talk@openstreetmap.org Subject: [OSM-legal-talk] Google awarded patent on automatic correction of road geometry from imagery Message-ID: 538ee656.6070...@ayeltd.biz Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1; Format=flowed This comes to me via Simon Poole, so the OSMF board is aware. http://apb.directionsmag.com/entry/google-patent-updating-map-data-using-satellite-imagery/402398?utm_source=dlvr.itutm_medium=tumblr http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect2=PTO1Sect2=HITOFFp=1u=/netahtml/PTO/search-bool.htmlr=1f=Gl=50d=PALLRefSrch=yesQuery=PN/8731305 The invention claimed is a A computer-implemented method so I am not sure scan-reading the patent whether that includes humans looking at digital imagery and making db corrections via computer. If so, then obviously (our) prior art is going to blow this apart. If not, then anyone working on automated road detection algorithms should be aware. Interestingly, if you scroll down through the patent itself, you'll see that they specifically mention correcting US TIGER data. Mike *Abstract* Map data are overlaid on satellite imagery. A road segment within the map data is identified, and the satellite imagery indicates that the road segment is at a different geographic position than a geographic position indicated by the map data. The endpoints of the road segment in the map data are aligned with the corresponding positions of the endpoints in the satellite imagery. A road template is applied at an endpoint of the road segment in the satellite imagery, and the angle of the road template that matches the angle of the road segment indicated by the satellite imagery is determined by optimizing a cost function. The road template is iteratively shifted along the road segment in the satellite imagery. The geographic position of the road segment within the map data is updated responsive to the positions and angles of the road template. -- next part -- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://lists.openstreetmap.org/pipermail/legal-talk/attachments/20140604/725046bd/attachment-0001.html -- ___ legal-talk mailing list legal-talk@openstreetmap.org https://lists.openstreetmap.org/listinfo/legal-talk End of legal-talk Digest, Vol 93, Issue 1 * ___ legal-talk mailing list legal-talk@openstreetmap.org https://lists.openstreetmap.org/listinfo/legal-talk
Re: [OSM-legal-talk] Using Google Street View to perform virtual survey
-- Message: 1 Date: Tue, 08 Apr 2014 11:19:51 +0200 From: Simon Poole si...@poole.ch To: legal-talk@openstreetmap.org Subject: Re: [OSM-legal-talk] Using Google Street View to perform virtual survey Message-ID: 5343bf37.5030...@poole.ch Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1 Am 08.04.2014 10:55, schrieb Martin Koppenhoefer: 2014-04-08 10:39 GMT+02:00 Simon Poole si...@poole.ch mailto:si...@poole.ch: @Martin It is undoubtedly so that the information in question is -not- simply available for use. You need to invest the time and effort to actually go out and collect it. Google has done so and that we should respect, regardless of legalities*. I am aware of this, but you have put ethics into play. If someone developped a system to analyze and store the DNA information of another person (or of an animal, plant), should they be able to become the proprietor of this information and forbid others to use it or ask license fees? Collecting information about the world, nature, the universe ,etc. (regardless how great the effort is) does not automatically make you the exclusive owner of this information. That is a completely different kettle of fish and a very different discussion. I am not aware of google or any of the other relevant companies or body (with the exception of some states and some national monopoly organisations) claiming exclusivity on such collections. With other words we are free to go out and replicate their effort, which in the end, is what OSM is all about. Yes, there is some concern on my behalf that we may run in to some non-copyright related IP issues at some point in time but google is -very- unlikely to be the problem. Simon Hi, Simon! I guess I missed something. Can you, please, explain that? I didn't get the IP issues part and consequently why Google unlikely would be the problem. That leads to the question about who would pose problems. regards, Paulo ___ legal-talk mailing list legal-talk@openstreetmap.org https://lists.openstreetmap.org/listinfo/legal-talk
[OSM-legal-talk] Using Google Street View to perform virtual survey
Message: 3 Date: Mon, 7 Apr 2014 02:38:07 +0200 From: Martin Koppenhoefer dieterdre...@gmail.com To: Licensing and other legal discussions. legal-talk@openstreetmap.org Subject: Re: [OSM-legal-talk] Using Google Street View to perform virtualsurvey Message-ID: 2c0901c2-d759-4bbe-b330-ca80303f5...@gmail.com Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Am 07/apr/2014 um 02:24 schrieb Eugene Alvin Villar sea...@gmail.com: You can always file for a declaratory judgment: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Declaratory_judgment interesting, wouldn't it be a good idea to try this for deriving facts from google sat or street view? On the other hand this would maybe not work out for OSMF with their seat in London? In European jurisdiction with its database doctrine those will probably be protected also when deriving uncopyrightable facts Wikimapia also doesn't have a permission from Google to use its sat imagery to build their maps: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WikiMapia#Licensing . An on-going discussion in their forum was locked and several members tried to derail the topic towards the inquirer: http://wikimapia.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=1t=10055start=10. It seems that Wikimapia has also this concern in mind. Their usage of Google material is rather obvious and they've been getting away with it for five years... regards, Paulo ___ legal-talk mailing list legal-talk@openstreetmap.org https://lists.openstreetmap.org/listinfo/legal-talk
[OSM-legal-talk] Using Google Street View to perform virtual survey
Message: 4 Date: Mon, 07 Apr 2014 18:04:58 +0200 From: Michael Collinson m...@ayeltd.biz To: legal-talk@openstreetmap.org Subject: Re: [OSM-legal-talk] Using Google Street View to perform virtual survey Message-ID: 5342ccaa.8080...@ayeltd.biz Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1; Format=flowed I think the License Working Group would echo exactly what Jonathan says. While it does not solve the problem of being able to map where there are no mappers, may I also seize the opportunity to promote John McKerrell's excellent OpenStreetView? It is a great under-exploited tool! http://openstreetview.org/ http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Openstreetview Single photo and bulk upload works well. I am slowly adding my collection of 40,000+ OSM survey photos in the hope that other mappers will be able squeeze out even more map detail. You can choose from a variety of licenses for the actual photo, but the photo metadata is CC0. Mike Someone told me OSV was not currently being develped. Is this true? regards, Paulo ___ legal-talk mailing list legal-talk@openstreetmap.org https://lists.openstreetmap.org/listinfo/legal-talk
[OSM-legal-talk] Using Google Street View to perform virtual survey
Dear fellow mappers, Let me present myself to you. I'm a OSM mapper from the Brazil community and a question rose there which caused a split in the group regarding Google Street View to perform virtual surveys, such as taking notes of house numbers and plotting them in the maps. After reading http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Legal_FAQ#2a._Can_I_trace_data_from_Google_Maps.2FNokia_Maps.2F3F, I was pondering about the impossibility of copyright and licenses apply to facts and reality (not regarding philosophical aspects). Google Street View photos depict reality or facts, thus I could use them to observe reality and derive interpretations which would be genuine creative work. It would be illegal to use the images in Mapillary, for instance, but the facts depicted by the images are not property of Google. Your thoughts, please Paulo Carvalho ___ legal-talk mailing list legal-talk@openstreetmap.org https://lists.openstreetmap.org/listinfo/legal-talk
[OSM-legal-talk] Using Google Street View to perform virtual survey
The general opinion on this list has been, for cases where there wasn't a clear-cut license that answers these questions: We'll use the data if the copyright owner says we can use it. Bye Frederik I recon that the images are copyrighted, not the objects depicted by them. ___ legal-talk mailing list legal-talk@openstreetmap.org https://lists.openstreetmap.org/listinfo/legal-talk
[OSM-legal-talk] Using Google Street View to perform virtual survey
Hi, You may find more discussion of this topic on this OSM help page: https://help.openstreetmap.org/questions/710/can-i-use-google-streetview-to-help-create-maps I see many people agree that we can use the images to access reality. This does not mean we're using the images themselves, which is copyrighted work. Also, somebody has asked Google regarding Street View. Here is Ed Parsons' answer: Checking the odd street names is OK. But every street name I would suggest * would represent a bulk feed.* With all due respect, this is plain wrong. Anyone who dealt with databases know that a bulk load is an automated insertion of copious ammount of data. Browsing photos to manually write down signs and house numbers is far from bulk load. And bulk feed refers to the Terms of Service: 2(e) [You may not] use the Products in a manner that gives you or any other * person access to mass downloads or bulk feeds of any Content, including but ** not limited to numerical latitude or longitude coordinates, imagery, and ** visible map data * Hope that helps. It says imagery. I'm not telling to download and use the images elsewhere. Reading a sign in SV photos and taking a note is different from copying them. I'm still not convinced. thanks, Paulo ___ legal-talk mailing list legal-talk@openstreetmap.org https://lists.openstreetmap.org/listinfo/legal-talk
