MapCakes - another use case for ODbL

Produced Works created from ODbL databases carry a requirement for attribution when Published. That is well and good for many wares and for common wares that we are currently creating with OpenStreetMap. When we print a map we can include the ODbL attribution text in the title block. But what about other wares?

Consider the noble cupcake.

Steve owns a bakery in the alps and sells cupcakes with deliciously sweet maps printed in edible ink on the icing. Cleverer still, you can choose a cupcake that models the local DEM, and with the trail map back to your car printed on it. Perhaps the text of the attribution can be printed around the edge of the cupcake as the map is printed, but the complete text of the license is out of the question.

This article was written when the then-current ODbL revision required produced works to carry attribution. The published ODbL v1 is much better and allows all of the personas in this article to continue their creative use of OSM data.

Steve's cash register prints the following on each receipt, ODbL map data © OpenStreetMap.org. It takes two full lines of the cash register tape but he wants to support OSM. When Steve sells a box of a dozen MapCakes, he places a waxed paper on the bottom of the box. The paper includes the regular attribution text and a link to the ODbL and OpenStreetMap.org. He knows that his dozens are compliant but just can't afford to put the large waxed paper in the bag with each single cupcake.

Potato chips

Richard sells the finest custom potato chips in all of creation. They are each carved to match the outline of a municipality in Southern Ontario. You'll think East York is delicious and that Scarborough is too big to be consumed in one bite. He's tried branding the attribution onto the chips but flavoring makes it illegible.

Richard couldn't get the attribution text to work on the potato chips, so he put it on the bag. He thought since that was a good enough place for the ingredient list it should be good enough for the attribution. When he puts these chips out for parties they always get positive comments. When people ask, he tells them how he makes chips shaped like Muskoka with the help of Open Data!

Consider earrings and charm bracelets.

Andy makes earrings and charm bracelets of your favorite cycle route or intersection. They are lovely, delicate creations in precious metals and stones. It is impossible to expect even the attribution to be legible if inscribed with a tiny stylus. Any visible legal writing would diminish the treasure that is the Sterling silver charm of the interchange of Highways 404 and 401 in Toronto. Andy packages each jeweled treasure in a velvet box with a fanfold document. The document includes the attribution text, as well as the serial number of the item.

Leather goods

Jochen makes delightful leather goods including journal covers and desk sets engraved with the map of your home town. The deluxe desk set includes a pen holder, in-box, business card holder and blotter and is in such high demand that the waiting list is six weeks long. Having to carve the text of the attribution into each leather objet d'art would surely double the length of Jochen's waiting list. Jochen sews a mattress tag with the attribution into a seam on each piece of the desk set when assembling them. He suspects that most clients remove the tags immediately when they use the desk set.

Cast iron goods

Sarah is a blacksmith and will cast a crow bar or wrecking bar for you that follows the contour of the great rivers of the world. Most people choose the Nile or the Amazon wrecking bars. She suspects that most of the customers who buy the Ganges crow bar just hang it on their wall for decoration. She paints the attribution on the cast iron, but it flakes off pretty quickly.

These goods and others are surfaces unsuited for legal documents or visible legal writing would destroy the value of the object. Steve and Sarah and Jochen and Andy and Richard each want to comply with the ODbL and to reap the rewards of their enterprise. The ODbL should consider attribution at the time of transfer suitable for the ODbL attribution obligation. And that attribution shouldn't have to be on the surface of the produced work when that is impractical.

original cupcake photo © Zesmerelda cc-by-sa on Flickr