[odc-discuss] input/output Licensing

[Jordan S Hatcher]

Hi Marco,

It sounds like the focus is really on the database/data that you are  
dealing with rather than the software that it runs on or that works  
with the data/databases.

The essence of this is captured in my slide included as an image in a  
recent blog post:

<http://www.opencontentlawyer.com/2009/10/26/iswc-linked-data-and-the-law/ 
 >

The rest of the slides are included in the post, but without the  
presentation to go along with them they may not be as meaningful.

The core point though is it sounds like the question you're asking is  
around how to license your data, and the software is irrelevant. If  
that's so, I'd encourage you to think about the following two questions:

-- What role does the data we produce play in our business? 
-- What license best support this role?

Then you can choose from things like the PDDL (which Open Data Commons  
provides) CC0 (which Creative Commons provides if a public domain  
approach is appropriate, and the ODbL if a share alike approach is  
appropriate.  There are other licenses and approaches out there as  
well.  A lawyer skilled in open licensing in your jurisdiction can  
help you answer the technical questions as they pertain to your  
database, if needed.

Hope this helps

Thanks

~Jordan


On 6 Nov 2009, at 12:35, Marco Milanesi wrote:

> hi all,
>
>        we are in the process of trying to understand how to regulate
> the input
> and output data of a GPL licensed software in a copylefted way.
>
> We understand that there is odbl which can suit our needs, but we are
> not sure if it's valid for input data and output data (which will be  
> of
> various types: csv, databases, etc, etc) and the output will vary
> according to our needs in different formats.
>
> Theoretically, as we are still at the planning stage, we want to have
> clear ideas on the licensing to use for our future input data and  
> output
> data
>
> The code will be for sure GPL, but as I said (sorry, the repetition)  
> we
> need to individuate a correct license (ala GPL) for regulating input  
> and
> output.
>
> Could you kindly help us understand which (copyleft style) license to
> use?
>
> thanks in advance
>
> Best Regards,
> Marco Milanesi and Roberta Borgognoni
>
>
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> odc-discuss at lists.okfn.org
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____
Mr. Jordan S Hatcher, JD, LLM

More at: <http://www.jordanhatcher.com>
Co-founder:  <http://www.opendatacommons.org>

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