Re:Judge Rejects Google's Attempt to DMCA Its Way Out of Bei...
by whaleofatw2022 on Monday July 27, 2026 @05:56PM
(#49075990)
Where it gets tricky is that, at least in past US case law, 'maps are facts' and thus cannot be copyrighted as easily (this is part of why published maps often have intentional, hopefully subtle errors in them) [0]
[0] - I believe a specific case was Nintendo vs Prima publishing, which was even involving a map of a fictitious construct.
Re:Judge Rejects Google's Attempt to DMCA Its Way Out of Bei...
by dataflow on Monday July 27, 2026 @06:36PM
(#49076380)
IIUC that particular case has details that don't fit into the general scenario I mentioned, and they affected its outcome.
Re:Judge Rejects Google's Attempt to DMCA Its Way Out of Bei...
by jamesfinlayson on Tuesday July 28, 2026 @02:26AM
(#49080115)
> this is part of why published maps often have intentional, hopefully subtle errors in them
Yes I remember reading a few years ago about the Royal Australian Navy trying to find Sand Island which I think was some tiny island marked on maps of part of the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Australia - what they found was open ocean 1,100m deep, and concluded it was the map-maker's "mark".
Re:Judge Rejects Google's Attempt to DMCA Its Way Out of Bei...
by mattkrause on Tuesday July 28, 2026 @06:27AM
(#49081833)
The consensus was that Sandy Island was not a copyright “trap.” Some of the sightings may have been floating pumice from an undersea volcano, and the “confirmations” came from a chain of errors.
I don't think a map is a good example. A picture is probably a better one. A map, by its very definition, is not a replica of any part of the original artifact. Not merely because a map is not the territory, but also because it's not even a direct, unaltered view of the thing. There is clearly some creativity required in putting together a map, since it requires you to decide what to include, what to leave out, what to exaggerate, what to distort, etc... as evidenced by maps of the same area looking vastly different.
By contrast, search engine results are stitchings of various pieces of the text on the page, verbatim. How much creativity that embidies is probably akin to that within a photo.