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by bloak 1816 days ago
This is partly about "mutual recognition of database rights": "since Brexit, any database made on or after 1 January 2021 in the UK will not be protected in the EU, and vice versa".

It's not something most people need to worry about, but I expect OpenStreetMap won't be the only company affected by that.
3 comments
mytailorisrich 1816 days ago
It would have been useful for the article to summarise the situation on this between the EU and the US and between the UK and the EU, as this looks like a global issue.

I have a tendency for cynicism so I have noticed that the article mentions their failure to obtain charity status, which suggests that they may be looking at lowering their tax bill...

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johannes1234321 1816 days ago
Having charity status foremost eases collecting donations. With lots of bureaucratic overhead as it restricts where money can be spent.
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123pie123 1816 days ago
>"since Brexit, any database made on or after 1 January 2021 in the UK will not be protected in the EU, and vice versa"

I'm not sure I follow, surely the OSM database existed before 1/1/21 thus they have no issues or does it apply to db updates?

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avianlyric 1816 days ago
The database as it existed before 1/1/21 would be protected. But I suspect any contributions made after that date won’t be.
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IshKebab 1816 days ago
Why do they want protection in the first place? Isn't it meant to be open?
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jdavis703 1816 days ago
Open is not the same as public domain.
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jokethrowaway 1816 days ago
So once OSM moves to Europe I can clone OSM database without worries just by residing in the UK?

Surely this is a problem already with the USA and the rest of the world? If this protection is not enforced everywhere in the world, it's quite useless. I just need to setup a foreign company to bypass it.

This is probably something that is "solved" with a contract: Eg. "By downloading this database you agree to abide to these rules: don't clone it or we'll sue you for X millions"

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habi 1814 days ago
> So once OSM moves to Europe I can clone OSM database without worries just by residing in the UK?

You can already download https://planet.openstreetmap.org/ completely for free. There are certain obligations for usage of the data though, you have to abide to the OpenStreetMap License: https://www.openstreetmap.org/copyright/en

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