morwen: (hackney)
Abigail Brady ([personal profile] morwen) wrote2007-07-30 09:28 pm
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well, that was a lot of effort to go to just to get a new userpic. ;)

[identity profile] annie-lyne.livejournal.com 2007-07-30 10:59 pm (UTC)(link)
Here's something I don't understand. How can a council/borough/whatever outline be copyrighted? Or should the copyright belong to the council/government, because they are the ones who are drawing up the borders?

The concept of a non-free outline of something seems a little frustrating. I can understand non-free maps because a map has much more to it, but... I don't know.

[identity profile] secretlondon.livejournal.com 2007-07-31 07:22 am (UTC)(link)
Yeah I wonder this re: ward boundaries. Who do they belong to? Copyright the boundary commission, the Council - or are they just factual? How can I get a free trace of a ward boundary anyway.. *ponder*

[identity profile] abigailb.livejournal.com 2007-07-31 07:47 am (UTC)(link)
Ward boundaries are typically simple and based on roads, railways, rivers, so if you had a textual description of them, you can reconstruct it.

[identity profile] abigailb.livejournal.com 2007-07-31 07:53 am (UTC)(link)
Perhaps more relevant is database right (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Database_right). We might be able to extract a tiny bit of information here and there legally, but if we were to start doing systematically, that would be a major violation. Generally openstreetmap just treats any information as tainted unless it can establish it is definitely free. And hey, it gets me out of the house!