On 8/2/2015 6:14 AM, Richard Fairhurst wrote:
James Mast wrote:
I mean, would he have to at least verify that the
license for those maps is compatible with OSM first
Yes, and it isn't. The licence has lots of clauses that aren't compatible
with ODbL, the Contributor Terms or indeed any open licence:
ftp://ftp.dot.state.pa.us/public/pdf/BPR_pdf_files/Documents/Cartography/COPY_RELEASE_FORM%20(01_07).pdf
That said, it might be worth someone approaching the Pennsylvania DOT to ask
for permission. But as it stands, these terms aren't at all compatible.
Richard
In the document Richard refers to, the Pennsylvania DOT asserts
copyright and makes many demands on how you can use the data. However,
you have have to look to the state statutes to see if that is legal for
them to do. Many state and local agencies throughout the US assert
authority they they do not have over public records in their custody.
This is a widespread problem throughout the US. Many states have been
working to clarify these issues and have setup something like an "Office
of Open Records" to help educate the public as well as train state and
local agencies in the proper response to public records requests.
A quick review of Pennsylvania shows that they have an Office of Open
Records [1] and state appears to have an open attitude towards public
records as defined in their Right to Know Law enacted in 2008 [2]. The
Office of Open Records also has a great training document for state and
local agencies that explains things well. [3]
The state statute does not specifically grant agencies the authority to
copyright and therefore restrict use of records, its quite the opposite.
A couple of excerpts from the Pennsylvania Right to Know law:
---
Section 301. Commonwealth agencies.
(a) Requirement. — A Commonwealth agency shall provide public records in
accordance with this act.
(b) Prohibition. — A Commonwealth agency may not deny a requester access
to a public record due to the intended use of the public record by the
requester unless otherwise provided by law.
Section 703. Written requests
A written request need not include any explanation of the requester’s
reason for requesting or intended use of the records unless otherwise
required by law.
---
Another problem around the US is many (most?) state public records laws
do not explicitly mention copyright or public domain. However, this has
been tested and resolved in some court cases. The court case in my home
state of Florida that clarifies the copyright issue for agencies in
Florida is Skinner vs. Microdecisions [3]. This case also resolved the
issue of charging unfair prices for replication of data, i.e. the "cost
recovery" problem that is also still widespread around the US.
James, you may want to contact the Office of Open Records and review the
FDOT document with them to double-check that they have no authority to
assert the claims in the document and that unless otherwise exempted by
law, all public records in Pennsylvania are public domain. There are
exemptions to the law, but I didn't see any pertaining to highway maps.
[1]
http://openrecords.state.pa.us/portal/server.pt/community/open_records/4434
[2] https://www.dced.state.pa.us/public/oor/pa_righttoknowlaw.pdf
[3] https://www.dced.state.pa.us/public/oor/2014AnnualTraining.pdf
[4] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microdecisions,_Inc._v._Skinner
--
Brian May
MapWise Inc.
772-600-7353
www.mapwise.com
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