Comments for NY Transportation Authority Cites Schedules as Copyrighted Material

NY Transportation Authority Cites Schedules as Copyrighted Material

2009-08-21T04:30:00Z

New York's Metropolitan Transportation Authority has sent a take down notice to Greenwich man Chris Schoenfeld for using Metropolitan Transportation Authority schedules to power his StationStops iPhone application. The popular blogger created an $2.99 application that gives commuters access to MTA train and bus schedules. He received a DMCA last Friday to remove the application from the app store The MTA claims that its scheduling information is copyrighted intellectual property. You read that right. Public train schedules are being treated as copyrighted material.

]]> In an interview with the Stamford Advocate Schoenfeld said, "The copyright law is very clear that you cannot copyright facts and tables of data. A train schedule itself might be considered intellectual property, but the data itself has nothing artistic about it." Schoenfeld believes the DMCA came as a result of him delaying licensing negotiations. The blogger was expected to pay the MTA 10% of his app profits and $5000 in advance royalties.

StationStops is an iPhone application that allows Metro-North Railroad riders to check their train departures and arrivals from Grand Central Station even when they do not have a wireless connection. The application remembers a user's home station and offers both train track numbers and departures. While these are simple functions, the MTA does not have this data readily accessible. Rather than having to wait at Grand Central's departure screens, riders with the iPhone app are free to relax until their train arrives. Essentially StationStops is a 3rd party application that does a better job of information outreach than the official public entity.

The MTA's cease and desist letter comes at a time when government agencies and semi-public entities are slowly carving out their policies on standardized public data. In late June, even as Mayor Bloomberg launched the first NYC Big Apps contest committing to the publication of machine readable city data, Council's application to expose raw data for web and mobile app development was denied. In an interview with PolitickerNY assistant counselor to the mayor, Sami Naim spoke out against releasing the data saying, "It's not how much paper you can put up on the Internet. It's more, how much can you engage New Yorkers. It starts and ends with the customer."

Judging by StationStop sales and the public outcry for Schoenfeld, customers want a better way to access their transportation information and they don't care whether it's city-run, state-run or citizen-driven. To see more user-generated transportation solutions, visit DIY City or Apps for Democracy.

Comment from Vector Graphics on 2011-04-07

2011-04-07T14:51:50Z

find there transportation authority cites schedules

Comment from office chairs on 2011-02-02

2011-02-02T13:34:15Z

ne buu ya. bu site sadece bu haber için mi var. heryerde bu kadını haberi var. ülkede ve dünyada daha önemli şeylerde var. bir kadını ölmesi ülke gündemini bu kadar çok meşgul etmemeli. site yöneticilerine duyurulur

Comment from saakshi on 2011-01-24

2011-01-24T12:03:06Z

cna duties and responsibilities My wife is a whore.

Comment from يوتيوب on 2010-12-22

2010-12-22T16:35:04Z

Copyrighted data should not be copied or not to be stolen. If this data is copyrighted, then their should be some mutual compensation by consenting both parties.

Comment from منتديات on 2010-12-22

2010-12-22T16:34:19Z

thanks

http://vb.tgareed.com/t241022/

Comment from سعودي كول on 2010-12-05

2010-12-05T19:35:31Z

deal of deference to contributions and sacrifices offered up at precious price that I proceed to suggest that we have
hd

Comment from kabin on 2010-11-03

2010-11-03T13:16:20Z

and sounds. Not sure that this is really so great. As you say, "too many manual steps." It all depends on the ease of use of the software. If it's just a toy for hackers, that's not much, as any programmer can easily code to a cheap industrial RFID reader

http://www.kabin.org

Comment from kabin on 2010-11-03

2010-11-03T13:14:04Z

http://www.kabin.org

Comment from سعودي كول on 2010-09-22

2010-09-23T01:22:06Z

smartphone platform, Google's Android OS, with the launch of their "AIR for Android" offering. With this and the newly announced

Comment from شات سعودي on 2010-09-12

2010-09-13T05:02:29Z

minority fringe of individuals have allowed their political and human rights frustrations to carry them beyond the pale of Islam's normative teachings -- violating the very principles of the religion theyougi

Comment from Mutuelle Santé on 2010-09-10

2010-09-10T07:09:41Z

If its the best way to be much moer reliable and effective in transportation,I think they should invest money so that they can get update and clear data to ensure the smooth running of their operation why not?

Comment from Prefabrik Ev on 2010-09-03

2010-09-03T10:47:16Z

While it is true that a minority fringe of individuals have allowed their political and human rights frustrations to carry them beyond the pale of Islam's normative teachings -- violating the very principles of the religion they invoke -- in so doing, their acts of terrorism cannot justifiably be branded "Islamic." What they are, then, is criminal. Criminal in international law, criminal in Shariah law

Comment from prefabrik on 2010-09-01

2010-09-01T11:40:07Z

rojenin Koordinatörü Ydr. Doç. Dr. H. İbrahim Yakar, Osmanlı'nın yaptığı ya da tadil ettiği 130'a yakın cami tespit ettiklerini dile getirirken Mimar Sinan'ın ilk camiyi Halep'te yaptığını da ifade ediyo

Comment from karmod on 2010-09-01

2010-09-01T09:28:12Z

kinci periyoda Scortsanitis'in pota altından bulduğu basketle başlayan Yunanistan, karşısında Türkiye, Semih ile serbest atıştan 2 sayı buldu ve durum 24-17 oldu. 11. dakikanın son saniyesinde Fotsis ile 3 sayılık basket bulan Yunanistan, durumu 24-20 yaptı.

Comment from porno on 2010-08-27

2010-08-28T00:24:47Z

StationStops is an iPhone application that allows Metro-North Railroad riders to check their train departures and arrivals from Grand Central Station even when they do not have a wireless connection. The Grand Central Station even when they do not have a wireless connection. The application remembers a user's home station and offers both train track numbers and departures. While these are simple functions.

If so then penalty should be pay to the originator.

Comment from شات جده on 2010-08-26

2010-08-26T19:42:21Z

Comment from poopo on 2010-08-11

2010-08-12T00:48:52Z

Good lord, there are so many commenters above who have no idea what they are talking about. The facts are very, very clear in the USA.

FACTS CAN NOT BE COPYRIGHTED. PERIOD.

Only the "expression" of facts can be copyrighted. If you lay out the data in a creatively rendered table, or graph -- then you can copyright *that*. But the underlying data is NOT POSSIBLE TO COPYRIGHT.

The MTA can *claim* a copyright, because it is in their best interests to do so. They can hire a lawyer to threaten you. But the correct response is to give the MTA the finger. Because the LAW is on your side.

IAAL btw.

Comment from شات on 2010-07-25

2010-07-25T23:06:37Z

there should some Cybercafe need to be implemented. If this guy has stolen copyrighted then he needs to give some compensation

Comment from First Aid Kit Refils on 2010-05-12

2010-05-12T07:17:20Z

It is always important to split up the site as much as possible so that certain pages can focus on certain services. The user experience is much better as well.

Comment from What is LEED Exam on 2010-05-09

2010-05-10T06:55:20Z

Comment from residential Foam Insulation on 2010-04-20

2010-04-20T14:31:41Z

one of the biggst issues as I see it is that technology has outpaced the law, or even in many cases, most attorney's ability to understand the technology. This is possible a prime example. Technology is evolving so rapidly that I doubt the law will ever fully catch. They are applying precedents from old technology to current technology and it doesn't always fit

Comment from ETF Trend trading system on 2010-04-09

2010-04-10T05:27:30Z

I think stealing copyright data gonna common day by day. This act should be prohibited and there should some Cybercafe need to be implemented. If this guy has stolen copyrighted then he needs to give some compensation.

Comment from Avafx on 2010-04-09

2010-04-09T20:46:27Z

I truly agree with the Timeshare. Copyrighted data should not be stolen or tamped with. If so then penalty should be pay to the originator.

Comment from Travel News on 2010-03-29

2010-03-29T14:23:30Z

Copyrighted data should not be copied or not to be stolen. If this data is copyrighted, then their should be some mutual compensation by consenting both parties.

Comment from Fresher Resume on 2010-03-22

2010-03-22T08:08:15Z

I like the part about targeting local areas; but I believe in targeting both certain geographical areas and globally as well so as not to leave money on the table by limiting seo efforts to local areas.

Thanks also for the two sites you mention as I had no idea that they even existed.

Comment from Thermo Environmental Instruments on 2010-03-17

2010-03-17T17:09:06Z

I am quite surprised by hearing this new. is it really copyrighted? If so, then they must give some cost to render those data.

Comment from Minneapolis Criminal Lawyer on 2010-03-07

2010-03-07T18:22:30Z

The application remembers a user's home station and offers both train track numbers and departures. While these are simple functions, the MTA does not have this data readily accessible. Rather than having to wait at Grand Central's departure screens, riders with the iPhone app are free to relax until their train arrives. Essentially StationStops is a 3rd party application that does a better job of information outreach than the official public entity.

Comment from David Feng (馮琰) on 2009-08-26

2009-08-26T07:04:03Z

Citizen 1:0 Big, Bad Authorities.

Get over it. Facts and "just" data are not copyrightable. It's just the transit authorities in a mad grab for any cent they can cling their claws onto...

Comment from Lex on 2009-08-24

2009-08-24T22:12:39Z

This looks like "copyfraud." See this article: http://ssrn.com/abstract=787244
From the abstract: "Copyfraud is everywhere. False copyright notices appear on modern reprints of Shakespeare's plays, Beethoven's piano scores, greeting card versions of Monet's Water Lilies, and even the U.S. Constitution. Archives claim blanket copyright in everything in their collections. Vendors of microfilmed versions of historical newspapers assert copyright ownership. These false copyright claims, which are often accompanied by threatened litigation for reproducing a work without the owner's permission, result in users seeking licenses and paying fees to reproduce works that are free for everyone to use. Copyright law itself creates strong incentives for copyfraud. The Copyright Act provides for no civil penalty for falsely claiming ownership of public domain materials. There is also no remedy under the Act for individuals who wrongly refrain from legal copying or who make payment for permission to copy something they are in fact entitled to use for free. While falsely claiming copyright is technically a criminal offense under the Act, prosecutions are extremely rare. These circumstances have produced fraud on an untold scale, with millions of works in the public domain deemed copyrighted, and countless dollars paid out every year in licensing fees to make copies that could be made for free. Copyfraud stifles valid forms of reproduction and undermines free speech...."

Comment from Joe Shea on 2009-08-21

2009-08-21T20:48:06Z

The tricky part of this debate is the question of who paid for the original data to be generated. If it was the American taxpayer, for instance, through grants to the city from the Urban Mass Transportation Administration, then the same rule that applies to all federally-collected data should apply: it is not copyrightable, and thus no charge can be made by a city for it. I am unaware of any reason why that should change if the data was gemnerated by any tax-supported entity. Otherwise, for instance, local schools could charge local newspapers for publishing the weekly school lunch menu, and the state could charge to publish the tax code.

Joe Shea
The American Reporter
www.american-reporter.com

Comment from Sharon Stern on 2009-08-21

2009-08-21T17:08:16Z

Ridiculous, and the kind of thing that gives government a bad name.

Here in Portland, Oregon our transportation agency publishes schedule information and an API for developers.
http://trimet.org/apps/index.htm

Comment from Rob Mowery on 2009-08-21

2009-08-21T14:00:08Z

It's a shame when there are people in State and Federal government who are just not intelligent enough to "get it". Hopefully the "intelligent" gov't folks soon diaplace the non-intelligent ones.

If NY Transportaion Authority would have just looked at what their more intelligent counterparts have done at SF BART, then perhaps taxpayer money could be put to beetter use and people could actually get the information they want, in the form they want it, without having state government dictate.

Here is information on what SF BART has done.
http://www.bart.gov/schedules/developers/index.aspx

Comment from Rob on 2009-08-21

2009-08-21T13:56:36Z

Cities can incorporate, so I'm sure than can copyright. Feds however, cannot. Maybe the Federal Government has it's own listings he can use. Just cite the U.S. source.

Comment from Erika Kotite on 2009-08-21

2009-08-21T13:14:23Z

One rarely hears back from anyone unless they think there is money to be made. Less time filing lawsuits, more time creating better products, I say!

Comment from palm reading on 2009-08-21

2009-08-21T11:24:37Z

scheduling information is copyrighted intellectual property?
LoL .may be NY Transportation Authority just want to share money with the maker i guss

Comment from islandinthenet.com on 2009-08-21

2009-08-21T10:55:40Z

Hm....I was under the impression that in the United States that by default data created by government agencies belongs to the people. I expect that if this goes to court it will be struck down.

Comment from Lydia on 2009-08-21

2009-08-21T07:30:00Z

Comment from Mikael on 2009-08-21

2009-08-21T07:04:53Z

They should pay HIM for providing THEIR users with a service THEY don't offer.

Comment from Healthy Weight Loss on 2009-08-20

2009-08-21T06:31:34Z

its a great idea! they must pay to get data!
its really affordable!

Comment from Tom Biro on 2009-08-20

2009-08-21T05:15:35Z

So then Google (for Maps) and presumably others are paying for the data, then? Interesting, truly had figured it was via however anyone else had begun sourcing it all.