10-07-2018, 02:39 AM
There's the Open Data movement which points out that making data publicly available fo under liberal licenses can have many beneficial and unanticipated side effects. Having to negotiate a license stifles innovation, even a $0 license. So if the government isn't trying to make money from the imagery, releasing it is probably best for society. That is assuming that they own the data, rather than licensing it.
US government works are public domain, but not Canadian works.
US government works are public domain, but not Canadian works.