A Data License
Hi,
I'm a Geographic Information System tech and I'm about to release a bunch of
digital map data, in this case specifically Digital Elevation Models. I'd
like to
use some kind of "free software" like license, but am bewildered by the
various
forms available and legal-speak.
The DEMs now in question were originally acquired from the public domain.
I've translated them into a different format and renamed them. As time goes
on I will be fixing some of them (obviously inaccurate or similar problems),
and adding other forms of related data to the collection. Some will be
entirely
of my own creation, some will be harvested from the PD (or similar
collections).
The license I'd like should:
- be free of charge, money for distribution and handling is okay
- have freedom to modify and change and combine with other data
- keep original sources of data & copyright notices in all distributions
- nature and type of modifications/additions must be noted and described
- be as close to natural language/common sense as possible (a user
shouldn't have to ask debian-legal what it means! ;-)
- not be Yet Another License if at all possible
which is all pretty close to existing free software licenses. The areas
where I'm
not so clear on what I desire deal with the combination of commercial/
proprietary and private/free data.
I'd like to -strongly- encourage the growth of free data (as in liberty and
beer),
but not necessarily discourage commercial growth. Basically my standpoint
here is: there is not enough free high-quality/resolution map data
available,
especially when it comes to satellite and air photo imagery. I'm hoping to
help create an environment where a "free" release is considered first, or at
least seriously.
Thank you for your thoughts,
-matt
[I'm not subscribed to debian-legal, please cc me in your replies. Thank
you.]
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