Maps

Almost every map and plan I've ever seen has a very visible copyright notice.

At the same time, it strikes me that, short of resurveying the mapped area, anyone drawing a map of a large geographical area must be copying something; not only that, must be copying the specific *form*, most specifically protected by copyright.

How can one legally draw a good map -- say, of Italy? I'm not referring to coloring or placenames; but what I choose to show on it, and most of all, the underlying contours and spatial relationships of the map itself.

Bill Thayer
<petworth[_at_]suba.com> Received on Sat May 03 1997 - 09:44:35 GMT