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asphaug's Diary

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Comment from Yury Yatsynovich on 12 October 2022 at 14:06

No need for permission if the imported data is distributed under a OSM-compatible license; otherwise, an explicit permission is needed.

Comment from n76 on 12 October 2022 at 23:15

The main Santa Cruz County website has a copyright notice that says “All content © 2006-2022 Santa Cruz County, AZ and its representatives. All rights reserved.” That is not a good sign.

The GIS page is actually on a different URL that appears to be hosted through ERSI. I don’t see any copyright information there.

I think the first step would be to contact the Santa Cruz County GIS department and get in writing what the copyright is for the data you want. Public domain would probably be best but specific approval to import into OSM from an authorized official might be okay.

If the copyright or permission is compatible with OSM then the next step is to go through the import process documented on the OSM wiki. It is not a hard task but can be time consuming. You will need to document the data source, the copyright on that, and how you are going to actually do the import. On the actual import you will need to describe how you are going to assure quality and how you will conflate this new data source with anything that is already in OSM and how you will identify and resolve conflicts. All of this need to be announced on the imports mailing list with sufficient time allowed for people to respond and comment before you begin the actual work.

For what it is worth, I tried to do a solo import for the larger and more populated county that I live in and it ended up being too big a project for me. Bits of Santa Cruz county, like maybe the town of Patagonia, are likely to be small enough for a one person import. But for bigger imports you may also want to get a team involved using the tasking manager or equivalent. Of course there is a learning curve for that too.

All in all, I admire that you want to do this. But it may be a lot more work to do it correctly than you expect.

Comment from n76 on 12 October 2022 at 23:34

p.s. I see from your intro/bio that you have been doing surveying and mapping in the Patagonia area. It sounds like you are a local. That gives you a big advantage when identifying errors, etc. on an import.

For what it is worth, I mapped most of the “town” (actually only a postal town, not incorporated) of Oracle, AZ during visits with family members there. In a sparsely developed locality like Oracle I found I could walk 5 or so miles of roads in the morning capturing addresses and making notes then spend the afternoon entering the data into OSM. It only took me a few weeks, spread over several visits to the area, to cover most of the town.

When I mapped Oracle I was using an Android phone and an app that could collect addresses very rapidly (not sure the app is still around). I could collect addresses as fast as I can walk, for me a little under 4 MPH. Then, back at my computer I could upload the data then go back and trace in the building outlines. I am currently on iPhone and there is no app quite like that so my current work flow for this is to trace the buildings first then go walking the area with Go Map and use that app to update the buildings with the addresses, name (if appropriate), etc.

I have only done slight revisions in the Oracle area since I did my initial mapping years ago so there are likely changes that need to be captured. But that is a different problem than the initial mapping or import.

Comment from asphaug on 13 October 2022 at 01:39

Good to know! Thank you n76 and Yury. I have just sent an email to the GIS department regarding the copyright. To start, I will only import addresses and POI within the Town of Patagonia boundary. Then after that, perhaps some other buildings in the dataset (excluding Nogales and Patagonia) if they are needed.

I will post here when I get a reply, and I will make a post to the import wiki + mailing list if the import looks feasible.

Comment from n76 on 13 October 2022 at 16:12

If we were talking about a simple set of points with addresses you might get away with the data can’t be copyrighted in the US.

But addresses are typically bound to plots of land which have a shape. And in this case there is a desire to import building outlines which are, again, shapes. I think it gets less clear cut here.

Near as I can tell, OSM takes the route that it has to be absolutely clear that the ownership permissions are clear and compatible.

Comment from asphaug on 6 February 2023 at 01:05

A.R.S. 37-178 Geospatial data sharing:

A public agency that shares geospatial data with another public agency may:
...
3. Retain custodial ownership of any geospatial data provided to other public agencies. 
4. Prohibit shared data from being redistributed by recipient public agencies if notification of the prohibition is given.

The disclaimer.txt included in the data download reads:

User understands and acknowledges that products are subject to constant change and accuracy cannot be guaranteed. The county gathers information from different sources and agencies.  All products are provided as is, with all faults, and without warranty of any kind, either expressed or implied, including, but not limited to , the implied warranties of merchant ability and fitness for a particular purpose. County does not warrant that the functions contained in the products will meet the requirements of user, or that the operation of products will be uninterrupted or error free, or that defects will be corrected. The entire risk as to the quality, performance and usefulness of the products rests with user.

The disclaimer does not mention any copyright… However, state law says the county MAY retain custodial ownership of this data. I might be in-the-clear to upload address points, but I am going to play it safe and wait for a response. Government is slow.

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