Legal aspects of using space-derived geospatial information for emergency response, with particular reference to the Charter on Space and Major Disasters

Authors

Frans von der Dunk, University of Nebraska - LincolnFollow

Date of this Version

2008

Comments

This is an electronic version of an article published in Geospatial Information Technology for Emergency Response, edited by Sisi Zlatanova & Jonathan Li. London et al.: Taylor & Francis, 2008, pp. 21–40. Copyright © 2008 Taylor & Francis Group. Used by permission.

Abstract

Increasing attention is being paid today to the potential offered by geospatial information in particular if generated with the help of satellites to contribute to mitigation of major disasters—tsunamis and earthquakes as much as man-made disasters. The current contribution seeks to outline some of the major legal issues involved in the use space-derived data for emergency response, focusing on four topics: copyrights, access to remote sensing data, responsibilities and liabilities, and security and dual use-issues involved. This contribution forms part of the Leiden faculty of Law research program “securing the rule of law in a world of multilevel jurisdiction: (coherence, institutional principles and fundamental rights.”