… of my American hometown, Villa Rica Georgia.
Actually my brother found this map while he and some of his employees were cleaning out one of the many hosiery mills located there.
He says it appears to be a surveyor’s map and is stamped and dated 1901. It is sketched in pencil and colored pencil and is 36x36 inches.
He wants to have copies made and sell them as antiiques, but I was wondering what legalities would be involved before he does this?
Thanks!
Quasi
If it was made by the US Geological Survey or other government agency, then it’s public domain, so you can do whatever you want with it. Of course, since the copyright is so old (1901), there’s a very, very good chance that it’s public domain anyway, even if it wasn’t made by the government.
I would think that selling modern copies as antiques would be illegal.
If he tries to sell the copies as ‘antiques’, he can be arrested for fraud.
No, he wants to offer the copies for sale in an antique store. Sorry if I was unclear in my OP!
Q
Does it recognize Israel? If not, you’d better not put it on display in the Green Room.
It saw Israel at a party once, but it got caught up in a discussion with the Soviet Union and Yemen.
(This was decades ago, you understand.)
It was a legitimate question posted in a legitimate forum. Please confine yourselves to legitimate answers. The map is of Villa Rica Georgia, USA. It is from 1901. It has nothing to do with Israel.
What if he had found a coin from that year? Or what if he had fouind a car from that year and restored it and then sold it as an antique? Would that have made it less of an antique, or any less legal? I asked because I was worried about copyright laws, and I asked because we wanted to do things right.
I expect more from this website than idiotic, air-headed answers such as these. Either help me with the question or ignore it if you can’t. I have linked my brother to this topic, and he has no idea what The Dope is all about. What do you think he’s gonna think when he reads this? :wally
Thanks to those of you who have provided well though-out answers and once again I apologize for not being clear enough in the OP.
Quasi
Two issues here. First, as <b>friedo</b> said, works by the U. S. Government are not eligible for U. S. copyright protection.
Second, Works published before 1923 are in the public domain.
Uh…Gabe?
Whazzzup?
CynicalGabe. Perhaps you could share your random thoughts in another forum. This is General Questions.
Quit doing this.
samclem GQ moderator
The equivalent of selling copies of the map would be selling replica coins, or a modern car built to a 1901 design. None are actual antiques, and to call them that would be a breach of the law in any respectable jurisdictions. In your case, only the original map is an antique.
Selling truthfully-identified copies of old maps, however, is a legitimate and common trade, provided they’re not in copyright (or provided you have clearance from the copyright holder).
I work in a museum. We sell copies of antique maps of the town in which I live, originally printed in 1896.
I would suggest taking a copy to your local historical society. They may be able to give your more information. They could be able to tell you about the copyright issues. They also may want to take a copy for their own archives.
As a wild guess, I would say that a hand-drawn survey map probably wouldn’t be copyrighted. Is there a signiature, or indication of which company made it?
I would suppose he’d be legally in the clear if not. As friedo said, it’s probably old enough to have taken care of any copyright that once existed.
Aside from Gabe’s weirdness, I think many people are concerned about this statement in your OP:
As others have said, making copies are A-OK.
Selling these copies is A-OK.
However, labeling these copies as “antique maps” rather than “modern reproductions of an antique map” is fraud, and not OK.
Gabe’s making reference to a joke from the TV show “The West Wing,” about an old map.
I believe that I have previously corrected my earlier gaffe by stating he wants to sell them in an antique store , not as antiques per se. I regret the mistake and hope this clears up the original OP.
Thank you once again for your answers, and again, we just want to do the right thing, and I thought that posting here would give us the answers we needed to make our choice.
Of course, we do not consider any of you as definitive authorities in this matter. We just wanted your opinions.
Q
My concern would be with the ownership of the map your brother found. Wouldn’t anything found in a mill belong to the mill owner?
As was stated by anothe poster, I was referring to an episode of West Wing. An amusing reference, not a random thought.
what do you mean by a “Survey map”?
If it was made and signed by a surveyor for the purpose of registering land parcels , then there should be a copy of it in the county courthouse archives. Buyers of the parcels may have referred to this map in their title deeds.
So it may be in the public domain.
there is a web site/message board for professional land surveyors that might (or might not!) be relevant:
http://www.i-boards.com/bnp/pob/