[Freegis-list] Geographic data licencing

[Thierry Badard]

Brent Wood a écrit :
> (Sorry Jan- back to the list where I intended it originally...)
> 
> 
>>licensing for geodata is indeed a matter that needs further discussion.
>>So far, most datasets are Public Domain or some BSDish license, some
>>are GNU GPL. Some CC are interesting as well.
>>
>>For FreeGIS, this remains an open discussion. Of course some things
>>are clear, such as: limited use or no right to distribute renders
>>a dataset non-free.
> 
> 
> 
> A couple of points on this:
> 
> The licence used by Land Information New Zealand 
> (LINZ, see "Licence Agreement" link at
> http://www.linz.govt.nz/rcs/linz/pub/web/root/core/Topography/TopographicData/topodtabase/index.jsp
> )
>  
> seems similar to the BSD licence. Once purchased ($2500NZ), you can just
> about do what you like with it except hold LINZ liable. You can
> sell/give/rework as you desire. Overall, I like it. I believe (but haven't
> checked recently) that
> much of the Australian and Canadian government data is under a similar
> licence.
> ... 

To complement this point, some information about the Geobase initiative
(http://www.geobase.ca) follows.

"GeoBase is a federal, provincial and territorial government initiative
that is overseen by the Canadian Council on Geomatics (CCOG). It is
undertaken to ensure the provision of, and access to, a common,
up-to-date and maintained base of quality geospatial data for all of
Canada. Through the GeoBase portal, users with an interest in the field
of geomatics have access to quality geospatial information at no cost
and with unrestricted use.

GeoBase responds to Canadians' requests for access to data at no cost to
users. It is built on partnerships and innovative technology. By working
together, multiple levels of government are increasing their efficiency
in collecting and maintaining geospatial data. This also reduces
duplication of efforts among agencies."

"GeoBase is a key component of the Canadian Geospatial Data
Infrastructure that has been promoted and facilitated through
GeoConnections. The GeoConnections program has provided significant
funding for the preparation of, and accessibility to, GeoBase data and
the GeoBase portal complies with GeoConnections' vision and principles."

The text of the license under which data are released can be found at:

http://www.geobase.ca/geobase/en/licence.jsp

In France, free software seem to be more and more considered as reliable
solutions especially for webmapping applications. Nevertheless, the
deployment of such applications is hindered by licensing conditions
often applied to data ... The definition of a free geodata license has
thus been undergone by some geomaticians. This license is named PGL,
which stands for Public Geodata License:

"In the french context, very few geographic datas are freely available:
many of them came from National Imaging and Mapping Agency or from US
Geological Survey... Even in the most advanced public experiences,
licenses generally prohibits free web uses and downloads. According to
french laws, the producer of datas may be prosecuted if an accident
happens by a data-related way. Lawyers haven't experienced many trials
yet, but they all think that metadatas may legally secure the producers
either the users. Nowadays, networking and interoperabilty improvements,
like Web Map Services, turns into new GIS architectures. In the same
times, public, private, and social needs for geographic datas increase.
So why not building with a specific license for geodatas the same
benefits than the GPL license for software ? Cooperative GIS initiatives
are now much easier, so they are much numerous. A specific license could
help geomaticians, enterprises and administrations to trust into
massive-GIS projects, and to contribute in the same ways than free
softwares developpers do since many years. Because access to public
geographic datas is not only a french problem, such a license may help
many geomaticians worldwide. This is the idea of the "PGL", Public
Geodata License (In french, DGL, which mean "Données géographiques
Libres". A "beta version" is available for improvements (at
http://sig.cwiter.org). A first release is projected for the end of year
2003. A short abstract could be: Public Geodatas License is equal to
GPL-like license plus metadatas. Contributions welcome !" (source:
http://2003.rencontresmondiales.org/program/view_topic.php?topic_id=22#lecture99)

A first version of the text of the PGL license can be found at:
http://sig.cwriter.org/index.php/PGL/PGL+version+0.1/contenu .
Unfortunately, the text is only in French but my comprehension of it is
that the sentence "Public Geodatas License is equal to GPL-like license
plus metadatas" summarize very well its content.

Th.