Carl Calvert expands on the complex world of maps and copyright
These days satellite images and the global positioning satellites (GPS) provide much to help the map maker—so why do people copy? Is it cost or eff ort or insuffi cient knowledge or just a “business plan”?
The following cases give examples of how expert evidence informs the courts of just what has been done so that points of copyright law can be argued. The law of intellectual property includes more than copyright and matters of unfair competition—database rights and licence agreements all have a part in the action.
Protection
Little British case law is available addressing the nature and protection of maps and, as Janssen and Dumortier note, the opportunity for a milestone case presented itself in the dispute between the Automobile Association (AA) and Ordnance Survey. “Ordnance Survey claimed to have discovered unauthorized copying of its maps by the AA: its experts had identified unique ‘fingerprints’ in the publications of AA atlases, town plans and fold-out maps, which proved that the AA had used Ordnance Survey’s maps as a source. Unfortunately—at least
