[od-discuss] German Data license 2.0

Tue Jul 22 19:57:09 UTC 2014

Hi Mike, all,

On 07.07.2014, at 23:55, Mike Linksvayer <ml at gondwanaland.com> wrote:

> c) It'd be good to get brief answers to the questions posed in https://github.com/okfn/opendefinition/blob/master/source/open-definition-approval-process.markdown#submitting-the-license
> 

Dr Helene Groß from German Ministry of the Interior just send me her answers to the questions posted on Github. I hope this is helpful. 

Also: whats the process to find decision whether or not the German Data license 2.0 is in compliance with the Open Definition?

All best
Daniel

1. State the rationale for the new license.
The “data licence Germany” focusses on public sector data which is provided under German public law. Without the “data licence Germany”, German administration would not have a proper way to define Open-Definition-compatible terms of use for their data, as it is still controversial discussed if civil-law-based licences like Creative Commons may be used by the federal administration and especially for data.

2. Is the license specific to an organization/place/jurisdiction? We generally frown on such licenses (see proliferation below), only making politically expedient exceptions (eg, the organization is a national government; and these are categorized as “non-reusable).
cf. answer 1:  The “data licence Germany” is developed especially for public sector data in Germany (like the the Canadian or British Open Government Licences). A categorization as “non-reusable” is acceptable for us.

3. Compare and contrast to any existing similar approved as OD-conformant licenses.
The “Data licence Germany” is available in two variations: The “Data licence Germany - Attribution” demands an indication of the data source (like CC-by). The “Data licence Germany - Zero” doesn’t impose any restrictions (like CC-Zero). As stated in answer 1, both version were developed to be comparable to Creative Commons, but within the restrictions of German public law.

4. What benefit does the new license bring over already approved OD-conformant licenses which would outweigh the costs of license proliferation?
cf. answers 1 and 3.

5. Is the license compatible with existing OD-conformant licenses? By alignment (permissions identical or a superset of existing license, conditions identical or a subset) and/or express permission to license the original and/or adaptations of the licensed work under an existing license?
Yes. Both variations of the licence do not define any constraints regarding the reuse of data under the “Data licence Germany” – with the exception of attributing the author in case of the “Date licence Germany – Attribution” .

6. Provide a link to any public drafting process (e.g., conducted on a public communication forum of some sort; multiple drafts presented to that forum) for the license.
The licence was discussed and drafted in an (off-line) working group, led by the Federal Ministry of the Interior and with members from federal states as well as from civil society organisations like Wikimedia and OKF. Internet-based platforms were not used in this process, so that a link cannot be provided.