2009/12/7 Anthony <[email protected]>: >> But I would argue that a selection of a finite set from an infinite >> possible nodes that can represent the centerline of a road is a sufficiently >> creative endeavor that is automatically afforded copyright according to the >> US copyright system. > > Inaccuracy isn't copyrightable. Mistakes aren't copyrightable (see Feist). > The intent of OSM is to represent the centerline of a road as accurately as > possible. There aren't an infinite number of possibilities which we > creatively choose from. (First of all, the number of possibilities that can > be represented is finite, as the number of decimal places is finite. But > more to the point, the purpose is to record exactly one result, and any > deviation from that is simply an error.) Mistakes and inaccuracy do not > represent creative input.
Actually a circle by definition is a line with infinite number of points. Also I agree there is a number of creative things that go into making up the data, it isn't just a set of facts, you are making creative choices all the time about how to best fit facts into how things will render later, plenty of people are making square roundabouts, others make works of art. _______________________________________________ talk mailing list [email protected] http://lists.openstreetmap.org/listinfo/talk
