Maps

My question sent Saturday on the above was received with a deafening silence. When this happens on a mailing list one tends to assume that one of 4 things has happened:

1. The question is of such blinding idiocy that no-one can be bothered!
2. It didn't go out.
3. Noone knows the answer.
4. Noone cares.

This second stab may help me determine which :-)

> 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 Thu May 08 1997 - 11:27:13 GMT