[odc-discuss] Applying the PDDL (was: Re: Open Data Commons - get involved)

Wed Feb 18 08:35:03 UTC 2009

2009/2/17 Jonathan Rochkind <rochkind at jhu.edu>:
> Ah, but my use case is one where the entire database is not ODC PDDL
> licensed, and/or the entire database is not being distributed as an entire
> corpus. Instead individual records from a database are being distributed,
> where that database may or may not be entirely under a PDDL.

So somewhere you're going to need to specify what stuff is licensed
under the PDDL :) Perhaps in a 'rights' or 'license' field of each
individual record.

> So "Copy the PDDL and include it with any distribution of your database"
> does not apply.

Understood.

> But we have been talking about this, and a general picture is beginning to
> emerge, we just need to figure out how to answer the FAQ in a useful and
> clear and lawyer-approved way.

I think there reasonably 2 levels to this:

1. If you want to be 110% legally fireproofed then you want to be
extra diligent and show you've really thought about this a lot.

2. But for most people something simple but clear is probably going to
be enough.

Thinking about recording intentions perhaps there is some room for ODC
providing a registry type service where they record PDDL applications
for those who want to be extra robust.

> I think some of Jordan's concerns had less to do with how you _advertise_
> your data as PDDL, and more to do with making sure you go through the proper
> steps to properly legally release your data as PDDL.  I understand the basic
> parameters here too, but still not well enough to write an FAQ response
> myself.

Yes, that's how I'd understood Jordan and the approaches I was
mentioning were two alternatives for actual application (of course
application generally should involve 'advertising' how the DB is
licensed to potential users).

Rufus