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Comment by hanbura | Hacker News Reader

Copying from Google Maps would violate copyright. Ideally you visit the place in question and correct them in OSM based on your observations. There are also some satellite maps that are licensed for use as OSM source (and that are often integrated in OSM editors)

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Facts like street addresses are not copyrightable. The visual drawing of roads and other features on maps can be, however.

An individual fact isn't copyrightable, a collection of facts can be. Details vary by jurisdiction, but in an international project like OSM you have to comply with the strictest jurisdiction

But the subject was an individual adding a street address for a route. That's not a collection of facts.

The address alone is a single fact, but its context on a map that allows it to be found is a collection of facts

As an OSM contributor in the UK myself and my peers only use clean-room data ( firsthand visit ) or data from public sources ( planning applications etc )

> Facts like street addresses are not copyrightable.

Google says it is[0]. It might be true because when you get street address from Google, you are also getting the mark on the map for the location. Whether it's true legally or not, it's better to stay away from their data. That is, if you use Google maps, you agree their terms and thus you are not allowed to copy the data.

And btw, I have seen (possibly deliberate) mistakes in street address markers in Bing maps (which is the recommended map[1] to follow for Open street map editors). So don't think that they won't find you if you copy their data).

[0] https://developers.google.com/maps/terms#6-googles-proprieta... (The definition of Content is explained in the following section, which says "... and places data (including business listings). ")

[1] https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Bing_Maps

Bing Maps aren't recommended for use in OSM.

Microsoft has generously provided permission and server resources for use of Bing Aerial Imagery since 2010, but that's different than their map product.

Lately there's a bunch more imagery providers that give permission for use in OSM. Mapbox, Digital Globe and ESRI all provide imagery layers with global coverage. There's also quite some government imagery available, OSM editors will show them as an option in the areas they cover, so be sure to check when editing.

Violating T&Cs is not the same as copyright infringement. What you linked to are terms for the API, the Google Maps/Google Earth Additional Terms of Service [0] would be the more relevant document. But again, violating Google's Terms is not the same as copyright infringement.

I don't know whether Bing Maps uses trap streets [1] or not.

[0] https://www.google.com/intl/en_us/help/terms_maps.html

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trap_street

In the USA, yes there is clear precedent saying that. But other places (e.g. UK) don't have this case, so it's not so clear. EU law has created [sui generis] "database right", which is is like copyright for a collection of facts.

OSM is not a place to explore the grey areas of international copyright law.

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