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Re: copyright issues with extracting data from city report

Posted by Tracey P. Lauriault on Aug 12, 2008; 2:20pm
URL: http://civicaccess.416.s1.nabble.com/copyright-issues-with-extracting-data-from-city-report-tp1157p1163.html

I went and looked at the  THE DISSEMINATION OF GOVERNMENT GEOGRAPHIC DATA IN CANADA GUIDE TO BEST PRACTICES - http://www.geoconnections.org/publications/Best_practices_guide/html/summary_e.html

I perused the pdf document - http://www.geoconnections.org/publications/Best_practices_guide/Guide_to_Best_Practices_v12_finale_e.pdf

Read Chapter 3 & 4, particularly sections -
4.1.2 (i) Contour of Copyright Protection (ii) Derived Works
4.1.3 Raw Data is not Protected under the Copyright Act
4.1.4 Data Sets as Protected Compilations under the Copyright Act
Case Study Compilation

There is some ambiguity.  It is interesting to note that the government is producing data for the best interest of the government and for government use but not necessarily for the public it represents.  I believe we have a public access / use issue, when it comes to government and the copyright act i believe we need to push for more progressive licensing.  This document also contains references to the federal TBS policies, Communications Policies etc. in section 3 that are worth reading.  You will note that I sent a question regarding provincial and territorial regulations etc.  Finally, this is an interesting case and Regie, I hope you will continue to pursue it.  See if the City has that vector file and see if they will share it and if then lets see where to go next.

Cheers
Tracey




On Tue, Aug 12, 2008 at 9:01 AM, Tracey P. Lauriault <[hidden email]> wrote:
Thanks Reggie!

I'll ask around, and I have bcc someone who knows these things and hope they will respond.  I feel the same way about the last two questions as well, and I am also not sure the official's response is correct either.  She sent you the copyright act but did she send you anything about licenses?

hmmm.

Cheers
t


On Tue, Aug 12, 2008 at 8:47 AM, Regie Alam <[hidden email]> wrote:

Hello Tracey,

Please find my answers embedded below.

Thanks,
Regie


--- "Tracey P. Lauriault" <[hidden email]> wrote:

> Regie;
>
> That is a really interesting question.  I am not an
> expert in this area
> however here are some of questions worth
> answering/considering.  There are a
> few experts who have some knowledge in this area on
> the list:
>
> 1. What exactly was the report authors response?

I haven't contacted the author yet. I did contact the
city staff that was listed as the contact person for
the project
(http://www.ottawa.ca/residents/environment/city_hall/getgreen/greenspace/evaluation_study_en.html).

Her response was that the city won't be able to
support the use of city information in another form on
the internet.

> 2. This is a value added exercise, it is for non
> commercial
> purposes,correct?

Yes, it is for non-commercial use.

> 3. you are using the original dataset simply for
> reference purposes correct?

The boundaries of the Urban Natural Areas are in .pdf
format which are contained in a report. I am
digitizing the boundaries based on these .pdf files.
So, yes the maps are for reference purposes but I'm
also digitizing the actual boundaries (my digitized
boundaries would be similar to their boundaries).

> 4. You are creating a new dataset based on the base
> map reference. correct?

The vector maps that will be the result of my
digitizing would presumably be similar to the ones
they have (if indeed they have a vector dataset).

> 5. Were you going to share the file under a cc
> license at all?  Were you
> going to attribute the refence dataset you are
> digitizing from (i.e. in the
> metadata etc.)?

Yes.

> 6. You are not selling this information, correct?

No, I won't be selling the information.

> 7. Is the contractor's report a public document?

I think it is. I actually got hold of the report from
the public library. The whole report including the
maps were in CDs at the back of the report so I copied
everything and did the digitizing at home.


> 8.  do those boundary files only exist in that
> report or do they exist
> elsewhere?

I am not sure if the dataset also exist somewhere
else.

> 9. Does the city have that dataset?

I am not sure. I will ask the contact person.

> 10. You are replicating a file, in other words you
> are replicating a
> pre-existing work which means making a copy but in
> another software.  Would
> this be analogous to re-typing a quote from a book
> in a new format?

I'd like to find out if that is the case.

> 11.  Who has the original copyright for that?  The
> report authors or the
> city?

I'd like to find out this one too.

>
> Can anyone else help?
>
> Tracey
>
>
> On Mon, Aug 11, 2008 at 12:07 PM, Regie Alam
> <[hidden email]> wrote:
>
> > Hello everyone,
> >
> >   My name is Regie Alam. I work as a GIS Data
> Analyst
> > at Terrapoint in Ottawa. I just signed up to the
> > mailing list and this is my first post.
> >
> >   I am in the process of digitizing boundaries of
> > Urban Natural Areas in Ottawa. I'm digitizing off
> maps
> > contained in a report made by a contractor to the
> City
> > of Ottawa. My intent is to display the digitized
> maps
> > on the internet using a webmapping program or
> Google
> > Earth.
> >
> >   This is not a commercial endeavour but just a
> way
> > to make the data more accessible (through
> webmapping
> > platform).
> >
> >   What are the copyright issues involved with
> this?
> > What about specifically for extracting (and
> presenting
> > the data in another medium) data/maps off a report
> to
> > the city?
> >
> >   I already contacted the contact person for the
> > report and she said the city won't be able to
> support
> > this project. She also gave me a snippet of the
> > Canadian Copyright Law regarding the internet and
> > copyright.
> >
> > Thanks,
> > Regie
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > CivicAccess-discuss mailing list
> > [hidden email]
> >
>
http://lists.pwd.ca/mailman/listinfo/civicaccess-discuss
> >
>
>
>
> --
> Tracey P. Lauriault
> 613-234-2805
>
https://gcrc.carleton.ca/confluence/display/GCRCWEB/Lauriault
> > _______________________________________________
> CivicAccess-discuss mailing list
> [hidden email]
>
http://lists.pwd.ca/mailman/listinfo/civicaccess-discuss



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--
Tracey P. Lauriault
613-234-2805
https://gcrc.carleton.ca/confluence/display/GCRCWEB/Lauriault



--
Tracey P. Lauriault
613-234-2805
https://gcrc.carleton.ca/confluence/display/GCRCWEB/Lauriault
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