| layout | category | title | author | image | permalink | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
blog-post |
blog |
Law clinic with Harvard and Cardozo |
Alyssa Wright |
alyssapwright |
/2016/02/law-clinic |
If you’ve ever been on an OpenStreetMap list service for the last five years or so you might have heard the wind stirring about OpenStreetMap and the rule of law. At least someone’s rule of law. Because it’s true -- as we grow as an awesome map resource, questions about who we are as a legal entity begin to loom large. The US board wants to be your voice(s) in this discussion, so we have decided to (wait for it…) learn more!
We are happy to announce that we are partnering with Harvard and Cardozo universities on a legal law clinic to assess practical licensing questions under OpenStreetMap's ODbL contributor terms. We’re excited about this partnership for a handful of reasons which I’ll very judiciously outline below:
- This is FREE legal research from some of the smartest law students in the world. We’re pretty excited about the “free” part but more importantly is the “smart student” part. There are many ways to bring diverse expertise into the OpenStreetMap community and we’re excited to be welcoming such promising legal thought.
- The outcome of this semester will inform legal questions we can ask ourselves and ideas we should clarify. As we build a more mature community project, we think the value of this (legal) self-reflection cannot be understated.
- And finally! We hope this university partnership is a first agile step toward welcoming more sustained and diverse legal voices into the OpenStreetMap community. We need a range of university degrees to pass the bar because technologists alone cannot make a map that changes the world.
If you are also interested in the legal aspects of OpenStreetMap and/or interested in how we are working within this university structure, please join our very legal (18+) town hall on February 23rd 5-6PM Eastern. RSVP. No IDs required.
More information (including how to join our super-hip law-clinic Slack channel) can be found on the Law Clinic resource page[LINK]. We want to do this right by you, so let us know what you need to be legally informed and sound. Join us for the Town Hall or email us at board@openstreetmap.us and we’ll client privilege.
Verdict: Black Cat took a nap and settled out of court.
