If all you have is a compilation of facts, then yes, people can copy the data points one by one, alter the format slightly, and have a wholly separate work that has no legally recognized parentage. This is why you don't see a lot of plain collections of facts for sale.
As far as I know, Google Maps is protected from scripts copying the data points out only by its Terms of Use, which the CFAA basically eval()s into law.
Google Maps won't disappear overnight because they do provide a substantial amount of beneficial proprietary data, like the illustrations and private aerial/satellite imagery (imagery from sources like NASA is public ___domain), their scripts that allow easy embedding, the ability to connect to one's Google account, and so forth. But there is no legal protection of the raw data points used to build Google Maps as far as I know.
Let me reiterate that I'm not a lawyer and no one should do anything based on my posts.
As far as I know, Google Maps is protected from scripts copying the data points out only by its Terms of Use, which the CFAA basically eval()s into law.
Google Maps won't disappear overnight because they do provide a substantial amount of beneficial proprietary data, like the illustrations and private aerial/satellite imagery (imagery from sources like NASA is public ___domain), their scripts that allow easy embedding, the ability to connect to one's Google account, and so forth. But there is no legal protection of the raw data points used to build Google Maps as far as I know.
Let me reiterate that I'm not a lawyer and no one should do anything based on my posts.