[open-bibliography] Orphan data

Fri Mar 2 03:16:03 UTC 2012

On 3/1/12 6:43 PM, Mark MacGillivray wrote:

>>
>> don't think so. It's either yours or not yours,
>
> If this is true, then it is not an orphaned work.

No, orphan works are those for whom the owner cannot be identified: the 
work is *potentially* owned but the fact cannot be established.

That said, "orphan works" are assumed to under copyright -- otherwise 
they would be in the public domain. I'm not saying that this database is 
copyrightable by called it 'orphaned.' I'm saying that the ownership of 
the data cannot be established.

>
> Yes, but that is why I suggested it as a solution. If the problem is
> that the work is orphaned, then by claiming it you will find out if
> that is really the case. Either way, you find who the owner is
> (perhaps you), and you find (or assert) the licence inflicted upon it.

Right, but the holding institution does not want to own it. They want it 
to be open, totally open. So in order to avoid owning the data, they 
have said that they do not own it and do not want to own it. There 
simply is no owner. But that means there is also no one to grant a 
license, and someone who wants to use it prefers to have a clear, legal 
license.

Now, if we weren't in the US, where people tend to take each other to 
court at the drop of a hat, organization #2 would just happily use the 
data. But both of these organizations are commercial entities, and 
messing around with something this ambiguous sends their lawyers into a 
tizzy.

I don't think we can solve their problem, but I think it's worth 
thinking about orphan data which, like orphan intellectual works, create 
a usage limbo (at least wherever you have nervous lawyers). In this 
case, ownership (and PDDL) may have been more advantageous than the more 
heartfelt declaration of openness.

kc

>
> Mark
>
>
>>
>>
>> kc
>>
>> --
>> Karen Coyle
>> kcoyle at kcoyle.net http://kcoyle.net
>> ph: 1-510-540-7596
>> m: 1-510-435-8234
>> skype: kcoylenet

-- 
Karen Coyle
kcoyle at kcoyle.net http://kcoyle.net
ph: 1-510-540-7596
m: 1-510-435-8234
skype: kcoylenet