[Rd] R license for a derived data-only package

[Paul Gilbert]

Michael

You might look at my TSzip package on CRAN. There are examples in the Guide: http://cran.at.r-project.org/web/packages/TSzip/vignettes/Guide.pdf. The package may not work directly, since it is designed for time series data (the example is daily market data.) But the general idea of just getting the data directly from their web site rather than re-distributing it should work with simple modifications. (If it is time series data you need for your course, there are also examples of other data sets in the guides for TSxls, TSgetSymbol, and TShistQuote.)

HTH,
Paul

> -----Original Message-----
> From: r-devel-bounces at r-project.org [mailto:r-devel-bounces at r-
> project.org] On Behalf Of Michael Friendly
> Sent: September 16, 2011 10:32 AM
> To: r-devel
> Subject: [Rd] R license for a derived data-only package
> 
> I'm looking for guidance or advice about the R license to use in
> preparing a package containing the
> Baseball Database from http://baseball1.com/statistics/
> My main purpose is to make it available to students in a course, and to
> develop it with others
> I'd like to put it on R-Forge, and then perhaps make it public on CRAN.
> 
> However, the page above bears a very restrictive copyright notice and
> limited license:
> 
> This database is copyright 1996-2010 by Sean Lahman. A license is
> granted
> for individual use for research purposes. It may not be re-distributed
> without permission. Any commercial use, or other dissemination of the
> database in part or in whole is prohibited. Use of this database
> constitutes acceptance of these terms.
> 
> I've written several times to the author asking permission for my
> intended wider use, but have
> received no reply.
> 
> What makes this perplexing is that I am apparently free to "distribute"
> this by sending links
> in an email or posting them on a web page, so that others actually
> download them for
> personal use.  The R package, however would be considered a "derived
> work", I think,
> since it contains .RData files I created and .Rd documentation.  Does
> the original
> limited license apply to this?
> 
> AFAICS, none of the R licenses described at:
> http://www.r-project.org/Licenses/
> seem to cover this situation, although they seem to apply to the R
> package, not the
> data on which it is based.
> 
> The TeX archive CTAN defines a wider range of licenses, including a
> bunch of non-free ones,
> http://ctan.mirror.rafal.ca/help/Catalogue/licenses.html
> 
> But I don't know if any of these are acceptable in R packages (e.g.,
> will pass R CMD check).
> I'd rather not have to consult a lawyer, so any guidance is welcome.
> 
> --
> Michael Friendly     Email: friendly AT yorku DOT ca
> Professor, Psychology Dept.
> York University      Voice: 416 736-5115 x66249 Fax: 416 736-5814
> 4700 Keele Street    Web:   http://www.datavis.ca
> Toronto, ONT  M3J 1P3 CANADA
> 
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> https://stat.ethz.ch/mailman/listinfo/r-devel
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