This is a MapHist list message (when you hit 'reply' you're replying to the
whole list)
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Don, the answer is important enough to reply to the entire list.
According to U.S. copyright law any creative work is copyrighted as soon
as it is fixed in some tangible form -- so a photograph is copyrighted
as soon as it is taken. A photograph of a map or other form of graphic
may, however, be considered a derivative work which (unfortunately) is
also covered under copyright law. Anyone wanting to publish a photograph
of an original work may or may not need to obtain permission of the
owner to the rights of the original work to publish the photograph. The
law is very fuzzy on this point.
Older works are generally in the public domain -- but nowadays it takes
a ridiculously long time for a work to pass into the public domain under
U.S. law -- which has tended to abuse the founders' intent that
exclusive right to a work of art or invention shall be LIMITED. (Over
the past 120 years or so, we have repeatedly extended the term of
copyright so that it lasts nearly a century beyond the life of the
author, whereas patent rights were extended to something like -- gasp!
-- 17 years.)
If you want to publish a photograph of a 300-year-old map, don't use a
flash, but you should be able to publish the photograph without any
copyright concerns. (Even under European law, copyright doesn't last
forever, although it might as well given the lunatic length of copyright
terms there.) You cannot (well, should not) publish someone else's
photograph of that same work. Fair use does come into play here, but I
really don't want to go there.
Dave
On 11/28/2010 9:31 AM, Donald Mcguirk wrote:
David,
I was interested in your responce on maphist. By your comment did you mean that
an image is copyrighted to the date of its first creation (ex. a map dated 1700
is copyrighted at 1700) or that a photo reproduction of that 1700 map is
copyrighted to the date that the photo was created? Thanks in advance for your
clarification.
Don McGuirk
----- Original Message -----
From: "David M. Lawrence"<[email protected]>
To: "Discussion group for map history"<[email protected]>
Sent: Sunday, November 28, 2010 6:44:17 AM GMT -07:00 US/Canada Mountain
Subject: Re: [MapHist] Digital image copyright on websites
This is a MapHist list message (when you hit 'reply' you're replying to the
whole list)
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There is no general practice to consider here. In the U.S., at least, an image is
considered copyrighted as soon as it is created -- that's the law, not
"practice."
On 11/28/2010 8:42 AM, J. B. Post wrote:
This is a MapHist list message (when you hit 'reply' you're replying to the
whole list)
o + o + o + o + o + o + o + o + o + o + o + o + o + o + o + o + o + o + o +
  A few years back, there was a question on this list about copyright of
reproductions/photographs of maps obviously in the public domain. The upshot
was in US copyright law, photographs and some other reproductions of graphic
works are considered to be new artistic creations and the copyright is claimed
on them, not on the original graphic work. I haven’t looked at all that
many websites with maps on them and was wondering if there is any sense if most
claim copyright of their contents. This is not the same as “copy
protection� which attempts to keep the images from being downloaded and is a
technical thing, not a legal thing. Even if a site allows free downloading,
it could still claim a copyright, even if only a general one for the site
itself, intended as a blanket for the contents. Any sense on the general
practice?Â
Â
JBP
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"We have met the enemy and he is us." -- Pogo
"No trespassing
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_______________________________________________
MapHist: E-mail discussion group on the history of cartography
hosted by the Faculty of Geosciences, University of Utrecht.
The statements and opinions expressed in this message are those of
the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the University of
Utrecht. The University of Utrecht does not take any responsibility for
the views of the author.
List Information: http://www.maphist.nl
Maphist mailing list
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