Can I own the metadata?
Posted on: Tue, 06/24/2008 - 01:13
Hi -
The Terms of Agreement clearly states that Calais ends up owning all the data that is submitted and generated by the Calais processors. Could there be any exceptions to this for companies who want to own it instead? Could Calais introduce licensing of their technology for exclusive use so that data is not public?
Thanks!
Sri
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Sri:
Calais Enterprise was designed to address the problem of providing Calais on private enterprise networks. Please contact us at partners@opencalais.com, and we can discuss Calais Enterprise.
Chris
Sri:
Whoa, let's be very careful about terminology here. Who "owns" what is obviously a very important topic.
First, Calais doesn't claim "ownership" of *anything* at all. The terms of use do specify that we'll retain a copy of the generated metadata - and equally clearly specify that we *do not* retain or claim any rights whatsoever to the content that is submitted.
As we implement de-referenceable URI's in the future retaining the metadata will be the foundation for us delivering linked data capabilities. Not just extracting entities - but providing additional linked data assets so you can go find out more about those entities from the world's data sources.
All that being said, yes - there are a couple of potential ways to keep everything to yourself. First, we do license enterprise software with the same functionality as Calais that runs inside a user's own environment. It's not a small investment and is really only applicable to very large enterprises (think Fortune 1000). Second, we're planning on the development of a Calais appliance for users whose security & confidentiality needs don't allow them to send anything over the wire. More about this in the next few months.
Regards,
I got here to use Auto Tagging in my WordPress blog. The terms of service confused me a whole lot, because you say in them that you keep the metadata produced but also the content submitted. That seems grossly unfair because, in somewhat ambiguous terms, you can conceivable sell worldwide my content (the sublicense part) and there's nothing I can do.
However, you state "First, Calais doesn't claim "ownership" of *anything* at all. The terms of use do specify that we'll retain a copy of the generated metadata - and equally clearly specify that we *do not* retain or claim any rights whatsoever to the content that is submitted." Alright, you do not «own», but you are licensed to use, distribute and even sell your license in perpetuity!
What else does it mean "The service stores the provided [data?] and derived metadata and makes it available to others [...]" ? Or "By submitting or generating metadata through the Calais service, you grant Thomson Reuters a non-exclusive perpetual, sublicensable, royalty-free license to that metadata"?
What I was looking for would be a simple plugin to suggest tags in posts. I do not wish to relinquish or waive any intellectual property rights. Nor throw away the possibility of making a honest buck by creating content to my blog. My primary motivation is to drive readers to my blog, through clever writing and becoming an unique source. If OpenCalais goes about "and makes it available to others", that kinda defeats my purpose, wouldn't it?
What I would be very interested in, and it's not clear if that's what you do, was that you kept a record of the tags generated, grant access to them to third parties, that would then link to my blog, and go there to read the whole thing. That would make me go from skeptical to enthusiastic.
Could you please clarify, what is it exactly that OpenCalais does?
Regards.
Flashlight:
We do retain a copy of the metadata generated by Calais. If you are using the API directly and send us metadata (tags) we'll store those as well (so they can be retrieved by others you share the retrieval key with).
We never, ever store your content or claim any rights to it. It's yours. Period.
Regards
I ask this because in the TOS you require that by using Open Calais, your Logo be displayed in the user site, right? Not quite. Then it's the icon. Not really. The users are bound to displaying the icon logo, whatever that is. Additionally the image is not to be resized, which is fair. But is not to be resized from the samples shown, or from the high resolution image, you make available for download?
For people working in broaah next generation technology, you could consult these issues with a native speaker of the language. Basically anyone capable of reading accurate English, and notice when it is not.
Thx.
(you're working in what? the semantic web?)
Tom -
Thanks for clarifying. What is the possibility of allowing early-stage startups to experiment with the Calais software? A startup is unlikely to appear in the Fortune 1000 list and neither will it have plenty of cash to spend on a Calais like infrastructure. Is there a price range that you could share for the appliance?
Thanks,
Sri
Take a look at http://www.opencalais.com/CommercialCalais - which includes an "on site" Calais solution.