Includes bibliographical references (p. 397-422) and index.

Table of Cases. Table of Statutes. Acknowledgements. Introduction. 1. Geographic Information Science: Legal and Policy Issues. Introduction. An Introduction to the law. Common law, statutes, civil law. Court system. Alternative dispute resolution (ADR). Remedies. International law. Key Policy Issues. Factors influencing geographic information policy. Existing policy and policy making processes. Data pricing policy. Policy on the legal protection of data. Data preservation. Summary. Policy developments in Australia. The geographic information and law nexus. Databases. Data sharing. Maps. Global positioning systems (GPS). Aerial photographs and images. Geography really does matter. Summary. 2. Sharing Geographic Information and Data. Introduction. Sharing geographic information and data. Policies on access to public sector information (PSI). Australia-New Zealand. United States. European Union. Summary. Frameworks for accessing geospatial information. Metadata content standards. Clearinghouse and geolibrary. Access and exchange standards. Towards a global information infrastructure (GII). United States National Spatial Data Infrastructure (NSDI): Evolution and growth. Canadian Geospatial Data Infrastructure (CGDI): Private sector leadership. European Geographic Information Infrastructure (EGII): Balanced representation. Australian Spatial Data Infrastructure (ASDI): Developments. Asia Pacific and Africa Spatial Data Infrastructure (SDI) Efforts. Global Spatial Data Infrastructure (GSDI) Strategic Plan. Summary. 3. Geographic Information and Intellectual Property Rights. Introduction. The Life of Gigo. Intellectual property rights (IPR). Intellectual property rights protection in Australia. Quid pro quo and the international environment for intellectual property rights protection. Intellectual property rights Conventions, Agreements and Treaties. Berne Conventi

Spatial information users and providers are increasingly concerned about the legal implications relating to the use and dissemination of geographic information for which there are no right or wrong methods of practice, and no one source of information. This book fills the gap by addressing key issues in contract law, intellectual property law, rights and responsabilities and liability as they relate to the GI community. * The first book to interpret the law relating to GI Science and outline its implications to a general readership * Provides a comprehensive discourse in law and GI Science irrespective of jurisdiction * Offers a global perspective throughout with case materials coming from the UK, North America, the EU and Australasia