[odc-discuss] does the PDDL cover the "data already in public domain by law" use case?

[Augusto Herrmann]

Hi.

A recent discussion [1
<https://github.com/okfn/publicbodies/issues/64#issuecomment-57188473>]
between Rufus and me on Github raised the question of whether or not the
Public Domain and Dedication Licence (PDDL) could be applicable to data
that is already in the public domain by law, where is no copyright or other
intellectual property to be relinquished.

That issue is very similar to the question that differentiates between the
Creative Commons CC-Zero and Public Domain Mark [2
<https://wiki.creativecommons.org/CC0_FAQ#What_is_the_difference_between_CC0_and_the_Public_Domain_Mark_.28.22PDM.22.29.3F>].
You can only relinquish your IP rights when you have them to begin with. If
something is already in the public domain regardless of choice by its
publisher, the appropriate thing to do is to just tell people so. The
Public Domain Mark (PDM) is a standard way to do so.

With this in mind, I ask the question whether or not, for the case where
data is already in the public domain, the PDDL would be appropriate.

According to the licence "the purpose of this document is to enable
rightsholders to place their work into the public domain" [3
<http://opendatacommons.org/licenses/pddl/1.0/>]. Other passages in the
document also make it clear that the PDDL is an instrument meant
specifically to relinquish any IP rights. What this means is that, if
you're not a rightsholder (such as in the case where the data is already in
the public domain), the document (the PDDL) does not fit your purpose. Or,
as in the PDDL itself: "Just like any licence or other document dealing
with intellectual property, rightsholders should be aware that one can only
license what one owns."

To conclude, i would argue that, for the cases where some data is already
ascertained to be in the public domain by law, one should use the Public
Domain Mark [4 <http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/>] instead of the
Public Domain Dedication and Licence or CC-Zero.

Best regards,
Augusto Herrmann

[1] https://github.com/okfn/publicbodies/issues/64#issuecomment-57188473
[2]
https://wiki.creativecommons.org/CC0_FAQ#What_is_the_difference_between_CC0_and_the_Public_Domain_Mark_.28.22PDM.22.29.3F
[3] http://opendatacommons.org/licenses/pddl/1.0/
[4] http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/
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