[Foundation-l] Copyrighted maps and Derived works from copyrighted sources.

[Gerard Meijssen]

Hoi,
The COLLECTION of such facts is a work. A single fact is not a work. The
collection of single facts creates a new collection however, claiming
copyright because of it being expressed in a certain format is similar to
Microsoft claiming copyright to all MS/Word documents.

When an aggregation of data can be expressed in several file formats,
claiming exclusive copyright based on the result of one such format is not
only a travesty but also impossible to maintain. The fact that many of the
facts may have originated from the use of one application among others makes
it equally problematic for any of them to claim infringement on the terms of
use.

In my opinion this is just FUD.. Fear Uncertainty and Doubt. Accepting such
restrictions based on sources that have no formal qualifications is imho
hare brained. A good counter example is the use of OpenStreetMap after the
Haiti disaster.. it is based on the same kinds of data that is put into
doubt in a different context.

Let me finish with a question, do you seriously consider that Google would
sue the Wikimedia Foundation for it having geo dat ???
Thanks,
     GerardM

On 1 April 2010 09:23, jamesmikedupont at googlemail.com <
jamesmikedupont at googlemail.com> wrote:

> On Thu, Apr 1, 2010 at 9:10 AM, Nikola Smolenski <smolensk at eunet.rs>
> wrote:
> > Andre Engels wrote:
> >> The thought process (note: I do not agree with it) goes like this:
> >> * A map or a sattelite photograph is copyrighted material
> >> * Taking a location from a map or a photograph is getting a derivative
> >> work from it
> >> * You are not allowed to make a derivative work from a copyrighted
> source
> >
> > In US copyright law, "A “derivative work” is a work based upon one or
> > more pre-existing works". Since a pair of coordinates is not a work, it
> > can not be a derivative work, even if it is based upon one or more
> > pre-existing works.
> >
>
> As I said, the selection of these coordinates is a work, and if you
> dont have any image available you cannot do so.
> What is the contract between you and google to use this data? Are you
> sure that you are allowed to just take the points and relicense them
> under the CC-SA?
>
> The sat images are not 100% facts, they are just one point of view.
>  and just using one single source of information is not  a good idea.
> Even one point may not be a problem, but if you select all the
> interesting points then you run into issues of collections and
> databases.
>
> I think the argument "points are facts" is too simple, we need to
> understand where these points come from.
>
> mike
>
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