Google ,Maps/ Earth ethics question 3

[Spartan5]

From Google's terms of service:

Photographic Imagery

The photographic imagery made available for display through Google Maps is provided under a nonexclusive, non-transferable license for use only by you. You may not use the imagery in any commercial or business environment or for any commercial or business purposes for yourself or any third parties.

You may not copy, reverse engineer, decompile, disassemble, translate, modify or make derivative works of the imagery, in whole or in part. You also may not rent, disclose, publish, sell, assign, lease, sublicense, market, or transfer the imagery or any part thereof or use it in any manner not expressly authorized by this agreement.

By using Google Maps, you do not receive any, and Google and/or its licensors (if any) retain all ownership rights in the imagery. The imagery is copyrighted and may not be copied, even if modified or merged with other data or software.

Is it ethically acceptable to even glance at project related imagery while considering conceptual aspects of a design? Does looking at the imagery for use in planning constitute "use"?. If so, I am guessing this portion of the TOS is commonly violated.

What about exporting the imagery for use as a backdrop in drawings (w/ or w/out the copyright and logo tag)? That's farther down the slippery slope for sure and clearly a breach of the TOS. Where does that fall on the ethical spectrum?

I know where I stand, but I am curious to hear others' opinions.

 

[zdas04]

I don't think it is grey at all--if you cut and paste a Google Earth image into anything you are violating their TOS and their copyright.

It is also clear that looking at a Google Maps image (regardless of what is going on in your head) and "using" that image in your decision-making process is well within the TOS. Any other interpretation would say that Google assumes an obligation not to show the maps to you, which is really counter to what they're telling their advertisers.

When I saw the restrictions on Google Earth, I bought a copy of ESRI's ArcView which can accept the free, uncopyrighted images that every state makes available and lets me make maps that are exactly what I want. Google Earth has a huge "gee whiz" factor, but when it comes to doing work with aerial images, it ain't a very good tool.

David

 

[davidbeach]

There is also Google Earth Pro which does allow commercial use; for a mere $400/yr.

 

[RossABQ]

"There is also Google Earth Pro which does allow commercial use; for a mere $400/yr. "

It's worth it! My company has used it for site selection type work and it is a hell of a lot better and cheaper than having an architect "render" something.

There was a piece on such "street level" video mapping on one of the network TV shows recently, where someone went to look at their house on Google Street level. It clearly showed the camera was in their driveway! Ooops!

 

[PSE]

You could perhaps try NASA's Worldwin as that is open source. You can also have other "fun" by exploring other planets as well.

http://worldwind.arc.nasa.gov/

Regards,

 

[btrueblood]

PSE a star for you. It always irked me a bit that Google (and other retailers) could take public-domain map/image data and mark it as proprietary. Glad to see enough people felt the same way, and created an open-source alternative.

 

[rtmote]

I agree with PSE and btrueblood! Thanks for the link, didn't know that. Brilliant.

Robert Mote

http://www.motagg.com