# Looking for obsolete road map sources online **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 10, 2011, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-obsolete-road-map-sources-online/588512 "2011-07-10T16:19:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2011, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-obsolete-road-map-sources-online/588512/21 "2011-07-12T01:32:44Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > Well hell, there goes another family legend, down in flames. All about our trip to the arch, on the way to Oklahoma. > > The trip might have been the summer of '63, I suppose. Though then I’m sure the barely begun construction wouldn’t have been too impressive. Don’t give up hope. Route 66 wasn’t decommissioned until 1985, so it would have been possible. Maybe you were a little older than you remember. ---
**Author:** ![Mr\_Downtown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Mr\_Downtown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr_Downtown)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2011, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-obsolete-road-map-sources-online/588512/22 "2011-07-12T02:28:24Z")
> [@robert\_columbia](#): > > copying a map for nostalgic purposes is going to be treated as fair use and/or “de minimis” (non curat lex…) You’re correct that no one will report you at FedEx Office. But no big university library is going to spend thousands of dollars scanning and hosting maps with Rand McNally copyright notices right on them. Also, for those who just enjoy looking at old maps in general, the biggest repository on the web is [the David Rumsey Collection.](http://www.davidrumsey.com/) ---
**Author:** ![Rhythmdvl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2011, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-obsolete-road-map-sources-online/588512/23 "2011-07-12T03:33:11Z")
Another vote for Ebay. I bet you can find a vintage GPS unit that hasn’t had its maps updated since it was purchased. What? ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2011, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-obsolete-road-map-sources-online/588512/24 "2011-07-12T15:00:28Z")
> [@Rhythmdvl](#): > > Another vote for Ebay. I bet you can find a vintage GPS unit that hasn’t had its maps updated since it was purchased. > What? The only GPS I remember from back then was my mother, sitting in the passenger seat and saying “you should have turned left back there, you idiot”, and my father saying “I know where the hell I’m going, goddamn it!” ---
**Author:** ![Rhythmdvl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2011, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-obsolete-road-map-sources-online/588512/25 "2011-07-12T15:25:02Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > The only GPS I remember from back then was my mother, sitting in the passenger seat and saying “you should have turned left back there, you idiot”, and my father saying “I know where the hell I’m going, goddamn it!” “recalculating” ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2011, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-obsolete-road-map-sources-online/588512/26 "2011-07-12T20:32:46Z")
> [@Mr\_Downtown](#): > > Nothing published after 1923 can be safely assumed to be out of copyright, and each time the safe harbor date approaches the first Mickey Mouse cartoon, Disney makes sure Congress further extends the term. Copyright hasn’t required “renewal” since 1977. It wasn’t Disney; it was Hitler. It’s no coincidence that the last extension was in 1994; **Mein Kamph** would have been PD the in 1995. The government of Bavaria, which owns the copyright lobbied to make the change in the Berne Convention. The US isbrequired by treaty to adhere to the Berne Convention. Besides, Disney’s trademarks on the mouse-- which never expire – would provide ample protection if the works went PD. They’d just sue for trademark violations. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-obsolete-road-map-sources-online/588512.md?page=1)