[open-bibliography] Orphan data

Fri Mar 2 10:54:15 UTC 2012

On Fri, Mar 2, 2012 at 10:11 AM, Owen Stephens <owen at ostephens.com> wrote:

> So why not setup a clearing house service by which OKF takes orphaned data
> (or other with unclear rights) and publishes it with an open license?
>
> The Open Library doesn't go this far in terms of asserting a license,
> opting for the vague "It's complicated". However, anecdotally, by acting as
> an intermediary with an 'open' intent, they have enabled re-use that
> otherwise might have been seen as too risky.
>
>
I like Owen's phrase.

There is also the pragmatic and possibly legal defence of "best endeavour".
If we tell the world what we are doing very visibly and after a period then
take action then at the very least the damages would be much reduced.

We can't protect against submarine suits  but I doubt that's the case here.

Owen
>
> Owen Stephens
> Owen Stephens Consulting
> Web: http://www.ostephens.com
> Email: owen at ostephens.com
> Telephone: 0121 288 6936
>
> On 2 Mar 2012, at 09:54, William Waites wrote:
>
> > On Thu, 01 Mar 2012 18:30:36 -0800, Karen Coyle <kcoyle at kcoyle.net>
> said:
> >
> >> don't think so. It's either yours or not yours, I don't think
> >> that you can license something unless you've got some legal
> >> right to it, and I don't think that a claim can establish that
> >> right. (OK, it worked for conquerers and the entire manifest
> >> destiny across this continent, but I think someone might call
> >> you out if you tried it today.)
> >
> > I like this thread.
> >
> > Ownership is not something magic, it comes from the ability to enforce
> > some sort of exclusive right of use or occupation. That's literally
> > backed up by the threat of force. Often we don't see that played out
> > in places like Europe and North America these days because if I go and
> > occupy, you'll call the police and they'll happily use force to remove
> > me -- that's what police are for. That's so ingrained as to be obvious
> > so it just isn't done.
> >
> > Similarly with copyright, they'll take you, physically, and put you in
> > jail and shoot you if you try to escape if you try to go too far in
> > flaunting the system and step on someone with the will and clout to
> > insist on their rights' toes.
> >
> > Is there any likelihood at all that in this situation *anybody* is
> > going to pursue things to a level even approaching that? Most likely
> > not. The worst that will happen is someone might write a blog post
> > saying they disagree.
> >
> > So I agree with Mark. Just assert ownership so far as to explicitly
> > put the thing in the public domain. If someone comes out of the
> > woodwork and disagrees it might make for an interesting
> > discussion. I'd wager even that won't happen.
> >
> > Don' worry! :)
> >
> > Cheers,
> > -w
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-- 
Peter Murray-Rust
Reader in Molecular Informatics
Unilever Centre, Dep. Of Chemistry
University of Cambridge
CB2 1EW, UK
+44-1223-763069
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