Map Copyright

[tokoloshe]

Extracting from a previous thread.

From BO
The law relating to copyright is straightforward although many clubs and individuals misunderstand their rights over ‘their map’. The creator of any artistic work (i.e. the mapper) holds the copyright to that work regardless of whether it has been paid for. The ownership of the final product i.e. the printed map, belongs to whomever commissioned and/or paid for it. The Club therefore has the rights over the printed
map. They also have the rights over the reproduction of that map and the Club is therefore entitled to possession of the final films and/or final (electronic) print files. Copyright does not extend to cover the ownership of the materials used in the production of the maps and, in particular, it does not cover ownership of electronic data files and/or software where the map is computer drawn.

Do most mappers and clubs know what this means. I the old days of pen and ink or scribed maps it makes sense. Now that OCAD rules it is not as clear as I would like.

I am sure there is someone out there good at copyright issues.