Does Your Town, or its Consultant Own Your Geodata?
That’s a question plaguing Rutland, Vermont as it switches mapping providers. The plan is to move from Russell Graphics, which has been serving the town for 24 years, to a new firm Information & Visualization Services. The sticking point? Does Rutland own the digital data created by hand by Russell Graphics such that it can use it for no fee? Dean Russell, owner of Russell Graphics says it owns the data, that in fact the town never contracted for the company to create it. Should the town choose not to buy Russell’s data, the costs for the new provider will rise, but only by a few thousand dollars.
This is a good reminder to include licensing of data in any contract with a consultant.
by Adena Schutzberg on 07/29 at 07:03 AM |
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