Commercial Windalert site using our data

[broadstairs]

It has been noticed that a site called WinAlert is using data gathered somehow from private weather stations for commercial purposes. It is not a site I subscribe to in any way but they display my data - see here. It is believed that the data is gleaned from CWOP or other US government sites which take the CWOP data. WindAlert claims copyright to this data and although it is free to view they do attempt to make commercial gain from it. I have asked them to either pay me for the right to use my data or remove my site from their pages but as yet I have had no reply. I suspect others here will also find their data being used.

I may well have agreed to their use of my data had I been asked in advance and been offered accreditation for the data and a link to my website but none of that happened. I take very seriously any breech of copyright which this clearly is.

As a test to prove the theory of them using CWOP data I have stopped my upload to CWOP for today and will wait to see if my data feed stops.

Stuart

[steve]

I was sure someone else had mentioned this a while ago, but I can't find anything using search...

[steve]

I found the thread I was thinking of: https://cumulus.hosiene.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=5756

A similarly-named but (I think) different organisation, who apparently get their data from CWOP.

[mcrossley]

On the CWOP front page, aim number 2...

to make these data available for weather services and homeland security

and...

There are over 500 different user organizations of the CWOP mesonet data

nowhere does it say they don't supply commercial user organisations, though their 'sample' list seems to consist of mainly 'public' bodies, although Weather Underground is also there. So by uploading your data to CWOP I think you are agreeing to these terms are you not?

[broadstairs]

On the CWOP front page, aim number 2...

to make these data available for weather services and homeland security

and...

There are over 500 different user organizations of the CWOP mesonet data

nowhere does it say they don't supply commercial user organisations, though their 'sample' list seems to consist of mainly 'public' bodies, although Weather Underground is also there. So by uploading your data to CWOP I think you are agreeing to these terms are you not?

Yes but that still does not allow for commercial organisations using the data and applying their own copyright to it.

Stuart

[mcrossley]

Yes but that still does not allow for commercial organisations using the data and applying their own copyright to it.

<PossLoadOfB*lls>
I'm no expert in any of this, but I think that depends on any percieved value they add to the data like combining with other data and creating maps from it. Look at the MesoWest pages, they are probably also using your data (I suspect since they also take data from CWOP) and you will find copyright University of Utah on virtually everything.

In your original post you were claiming copyright for your data and want payment for any subsequent commerical use it. My point is that you have made your data publically available via CWOP with no apparent copyright or restrictions on use imposed (commericial or otherwise), so I don't think you can complain if someone then uses that data in whatever way they want.
</PossLoadOfB*lls>

Any lawers on here so we can two conflicting views from them

[captzero]

<PossLoadOfB*lls>...</PossLoadOfB*lls>

Thats gold. Can't wait for Ray's take on that one. Must be the new HTML6.

I have an idea for a new cumulus webtag ..... <#PossLoadOfB*lls>

[broadstairs]

Well anyway since turning off CWOP my data no longer updates on WindAlert so it will stay that way.

Stuart

[serowe]

This type of discussion has been brought up many times - here and in lots of other forums.

The bottom line is you cannot copyright the data itself. You can, however, copyright the display of that data, just not the underlying data.

(And yes - this comes from having many years - since the early 70's - of producing data and going through layers and courts many times over the use of my data by others also trying to claim copyright).

And, to add to this, once you contribute your data to ANY other organisation (whether it be on the web, print, radio, TV - anywhere) you no longer have any claim to that data as being solely yours. So, if yu want to prevent anyone else using it - don;t display it, don;t contribute it and don;t even talk about it.

[beteljuice]

As an aside - If I remember correctly - ISP and hosting services usually say in the small print that any / all content passed through / hosted is actually theirs (as long as it's not illegal) so there !

How that is applied to commercial sites ....

I can't imagine big companies being held to ransom over their own logos / content ?

[broadstairs]

The bottom line is you cannot copyright the data itself.

On that basis someone could copy the data contained in a jpeg and consider they are not breaking copyright so I dont see how that applies.....

Stuart

[geoffp]

Just as a matter of interest I checked and guess what my weather data is being displayed as well on that site, Stuart have a look on Windfinder.com and see if your data is being used on there as well, mine is, and both being supplied by CWOP I guess that is how CWOP gets its finance selling our data out to these other set ps.

The only real reason that I have used CWOP was for their Quality Control facility but I guess that would not be hard to set up if someone had the brains, (that would leave me out )

As of this minute I have pulled the plug on CWOP I would rather do without the QC than let others profit from my free data.

[serowe]

The bottom line is you cannot copyright the data itself.

On that basis someone could copy the data contained in a jpeg and consider they are not breaking copyright so I dont see how that applies.....

Stuart

What data? The bits that make up the physical image? Now you're trying to stretch an argument where it simply doesn't go.

The data in this discussion is the data that is derived from a process and then dsplayed in human readable form (courts in copyright disputes have typically discounted data that cannot be read, manipulated and displayed by computers only as being 'data').

And, as stated, you place ANYTHING on a web site and that host will usually have some clause claiming it has the rights to it. Commercial and big businesses will either have control of their own sites (ie their own equipment etc) or have completely different TOC's they have had their own legal teams go over before signing.

[ironeagleuk]

I've just received an email from windfinder

An: ironeagleuk@hotmail.com
Ladies and gentlemen,
we have noticed that we haven't received any data from the following weather stations:

+-------------------------------------+--------------+
| Weather station | last data |
+-------------------------------------+--------------+
| Folkestone | |
| http://windfinder.com/report/folkestone |
+-------------------------------------+--------------+


For your information:
We have downloaded the data from your weather station through MESONET / CWOP (Citzen Weather Observing Program).

If you don't want to be informed by us in the future, or if you think that this message
is a mistake, please hit the link below to remove your mailadress from our system:

mailto:paul@windfinder.com?subject=Remove_my_address:%20ironeagleuk@hotmail.com%20Stations:%20gb961%20

If the link doesn't work with your mail program, please send a mail to paul@windfinder.com and copy the above line into that mail.

Regards

Paul Sommer

Windfinder.com
Knorrstr. 24 Hinterhaus
24106 Kiel
GERMANY
http://www.windfinder.com

Now why are they telling me this?.....It's not my fault they've not received any data from me since October....see the page: http://www.windfinder.com/windstats/win ... estone.htm

What do they want me to do about it?...I think I shall I ask them

Looking at CWOP there seems to be data there: http://www.findu.com/cgi-bin/wxpage.cgi?DW5936

[M1DUL]

I also have just received an email from windfinder, there is data on my cwop page like yours as well, so it is not our fault that they are not getting any of our data.