# Map publishers hiding copyright traps? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\ **Created:** [November 14, 2006, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/map-publishers-hiding-copyright-traps/380457 "2006-11-14T23:25:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Algernon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a183cd/32.png) [@Algernon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Algernon)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2006, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/map-publishers-hiding-copyright-traps/380457/1 "2006-11-14T23:25:01Z")
[From the Staff Report: Part 3 of Copyright Laws: Infringement](http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mcopyright3.htm) > [@](#): > > Now you see why map publishers hide copyright traps in their maps – they make it easier to prove copying rather than independent creation. I didn’t know that map publishers did this. Are there specific examples of what they do? ---
**Author:** ![Nanoda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Nanoda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nanoda)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2006, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/map-publishers-hiding-copyright-traps/380457/2 "2006-11-14T23:39:18Z")
Here’s a bit of info regarding this practice: > **[Fictitious entry](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fictitious_entry)** > > Fictitious or fake entries are deliberately incorrect entries in reference works such as dictionaries, encyclopedias, maps, and directories, added by the editors as a copyright trap to reveal subsequent plagiarism or copyright infringement. There are more specific terms for particular kinds of fictitious entry, such as Mountweazel, trap street, paper town, phantom settlement, and nihilartikel. > The neologism Mountweazel was coined by The New Yorker writer Henry Alford in an article that mentione... > **[Trap street](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trap_street)** > > In cartography, a trap street is a fictitious entry in the form of a misrepresented street on a map, often outside the area the map nominally covers, for the purpose of "trapping" potential plagiarists of the map who, if caught, would be unable to explain the inclusion of the "trap street" on their map as innocent. On maps that are not of streets, other "trap" features (such as nonexistent towns, or mountains with the wrong elevations) may be inserted or altered for the same purpose. > Trap street... As for concrete examples… I can’t seem to find one right now. 😃 I know that at one point there was a lake in the middle of nowhere in Google Maps / Google Earth where the lake surface was replaced with a magnified chunk of silicon chip. Looked quite odd. ---
**Author:** ![C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2006, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/map-publishers-hiding-copyright-traps/380457/3 "2006-11-14T23:49:25Z")
Please note: [Do maps have “copyright traps” to permit detection of unauthorized copies?](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a4_165.html) … the Master speaks. ---
**Author:** ![pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pseudotriton_ruber_ruber)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2006, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/map-publishers-hiding-copyright-traps/380457/4 "2006-11-15T00:09:44Z")
I don’t really get why things as extreme as fictitious towns and streets have to be included, since they could just mispell real towns and streets and show that a copied map has been copied that way. I’e got misspellings all over my maps, and I’m sure they would stand up as evidence in court—who the hell would spell Manhattan with an ‘i’ and who the hell would be confused by it if such a harmless error appeared? ---
**Author:** ![John\_W.Kennedy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_w.kennedy/32/1031_2.png) [@John\_W.Kennedy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_W.Kennedy)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2006, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/map-publishers-hiding-copyright-traps/380457/5 "2006-11-15T03:26:22Z")
Fictitious towns and streets (done correctly) are less harmful and less annoying. ---
**Author:** ![fusoya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ecccb3/32.png) [@fusoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fusoya)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2006, 5:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/map-publishers-hiding-copyright-traps/380457/6 "2006-11-15T05:45:58Z")
I myself have created a [Tri-State Area Railroad Track Map](http://www.richegreen.com/TriStateTrackMapV2.pdf) and I have included a couple of deliberate mistakes within it, just to see if somebody would decide to copy it some day. These mistakes are so subtle, even railroad employees who ride these lines (and who, by request, looked them over for errors) every day failed to notice. One such example is that in North White Plains yard, I included one track in the shop that does not and never existed, and therefore if it showed up on another map, I’d know where they got their info from. I also included a couple fictional freight car layup tracks, one near Old Saybrook, another near Yonkers. ---
**Author:** ![Edward\_The\_Head](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ce73a5/32.png) [@Edward\_The\_Head](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Edward_The_Head)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2006, 12:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/map-publishers-hiding-copyright-traps/380457/7 "2006-11-15T12:08:16Z")
Does anyone know if this has changed in the last few years? I know there are still traps in maps as I’ve found a few. However, a few years ago in Mercator’s World, a cartography magazine, this came up and at least one court found that you could copy a map because the information is just information. They said it was much like a phone book and pure information can not be copywritten. That’s not to say that you can just photocopy a map and call it your own, but they did suggest that you could redo the work. I believe what they said was protected was the way the map was presented, the colors, the lettering, that type of thing. I wish I still had the issue, but I’ve gotten rid of all of my magazines. I do know it must have come out between 2001 and 2003. What I find funny though is that many of the map makers take USGS maps, NOAA charts, copy them and then put their own copywrite on them because US government maps can’t have a copywrite. Most of the maps the take are years old so they look strange to see hand drawn maps in this day and age. ---
**Author:** ![Algernon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a183cd/32.png) [@Algernon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Algernon)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2006, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/map-publishers-hiding-copyright-traps/380457/8 "2006-11-15T13:18:49Z")
Fascinating. This is why I love the Dope, even though I don’t frequent these boards as much as I used to. Thanks for the info. I can’t believe I got to be 54 years old and did not know about this practice. Sheesh. You’d think I lived under a rock or something. ---
**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2006, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/map-publishers-hiding-copyright-traps/380457/9 "2006-11-15T17:27:29Z")
I have a globe here that’s filled with what are either blatant traps or really bad translations, listing places like San Diago (San Diego, CA) and Farqo (Fargo, ND) Years ago, I found traps extend to the rough-and-tumble world of phone books. I was in (IIRC) Nashville, and while browsing the book, found a listing that had to be a phony: (caution: profanity in the spoiler box) SHITHEAD, A. At least I hope that was a phony listing! ---
**Author:** ![Gfactor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9de053/32.png) [@Gfactor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gfactor)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2006, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/map-publishers-hiding-copyright-traps/380457/10 "2006-11-15T17:38:34Z")
[QUOTE=gotpasswords] IYears ago, I found traps extend to the rough-and-tumble world of phone books. [/QUOTE] > [@](#): > > Unable to license Rural’s white pages listings, Feist used them without Rural’s consent. Feist began by removing several thousand listings that fell outside the geographic range of its area-wide directory, then hired personnel to investigate the 4,935 that remained. These employees verified [p\*344] the data reported by Rural and sought to obtain additional information. As a result, a typical Feist listing includes the individual’s street address; most of Rural’s listings do not. Notwithstanding these additions, however, 1,309 of the 46,878 listings in Feist’s 1983 directory were identical to listings in Rural’s 1982-1983 white pages. App. 54 (para. 15-16), 57. **Four of these were fictitious listings that Rural had inserted into its directory to detect copying**. [FEIST PUBLICATIONS, INC., Petitioner v. RURAL TELEPHONE SERVICE COMPANY, INC. | Supreme Court | US Law | LII / Legal Information Institute](http://www.law.cornell.edu/copyright/cases/499_US_340.htm)(Emphasis added.) ---
**Author:** ![Rico](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rico/32/3582_2.png) [@Rico](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rico)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2006, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/map-publishers-hiding-copyright-traps/380457/11 "2006-11-15T22:37:32Z")
Publishers of Police Scanner guides nationwide do the same thing. They will insert a fictituous town or agency within a large city and place a few bogus frequencies in that town or agency. For instance, they might put a "Bus-to-Bus frequency in the Los Angeles, CA MTA section. There is no such frequency, but it looks legit, so a copier would just duplicate it into their own guide. At that point, they’re toast if they copy the bogus frequencies. ---
**Author:** ![Mycroft\_H](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/898d66/32.png) [@Mycroft\_H](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mycroft_H)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2006, 5:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/map-publishers-hiding-copyright-traps/380457/12 "2006-11-16T05:50:34Z")
Another method of map copy checking I’ve seen is to include very small existing towns. In some rural counties in Minnesota where I’ve worked maps of the area have included small towns that only had populations of 10-30 people. They may have historically been larger towns but presently are only several houses collected around a crossroad. The only reason I could think of for these towns to be included in a statewide map was as a check for copying. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2006, 6:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/map-publishers-hiding-copyright-traps/380457/13 "2006-11-16T06:53:20Z")
[QUOTE=gotpasswords] I have a globe here that’s filled with what are either blatant traps or really bad translations, listing places like San Diago (San Diego, CA) and Farqo (Fargo, ND) Years ago, I found traps extend to the rough-and-tumble world of phone books. I was in (IIRC) Nashville, and while browsing the book, found a listing that had to be a phony: (caution: profanity in the spoiler box) SHITHEAD, A. At least I hope that was a phony listing! [/QUOTE] A real listing in the Rochester phone book that I learned was very real because I was his substitute mailman one summer: one Anil Shitole. ---
**Author:** ![Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/cc9497/32.png) [@Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capt.Ridley_s_Shooting_Party)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2006, 10:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/map-publishers-hiding-copyright-traps/380457/14 "2006-11-16T10:33:55Z")
Ordnance Survey brought a copyright infringement case against the UK’s AA in 2001, after they detected the copyright infringement of some of their maps through these traps. The case ended in an out-of-court settlement. So these traps are still in use and are at least sometimes effective. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2006, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/map-publishers-hiding-copyright-traps/380457/15 "2006-11-16T17:44:21Z")
[QUOTE=Rico] At that point, they’re toast if they copy the bogus frequencies. [/QUOTE] Again, it’s questionable if they’re “toast,” because copyright law does not protect mere lists of facts. ---
**Author:** ![Gfactor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9de053/32.png) [@Gfactor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gfactor)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2006, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/map-publishers-hiding-copyright-traps/380457/16 "2006-11-16T18:26:41Z")
[QUOTE=acsenray] Again, it’s questionable if they’re “toast,” because copyright law does not protect mere lists of facts. [/QUOTE] I was just thinking about this over lunch. Actually, the fake addresses are the most protectible because they aren’t facts. I’m not sure how far that gets them, though. In _Feist_, for example the Court didn’t seem to have a problem holding: > [@](#): > > Because Rural’s white pages lack the requisite originality, Feist’s use of the listings cannot constitute infringement. Maybe if the listings had more fakes, or really creative ones, or if someone actually sued just for the fakes, the result would be different. Then again, maybe not. ---
**Author:** ![Gfactor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9de053/32.png) [@Gfactor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gfactor)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2006, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/map-publishers-hiding-copyright-traps/380457/17 "2006-11-16T18:37:35Z")
OTOOH, Titles, names, short phrases, and slogans are not protectible in the first place, so even if the names and addresses were fanciful, it’d be a tough case, albeit for a slightly different reason. ---
**Author:** ![chorpler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chorpler/32/2888_2.png) [@chorpler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chorpler)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2006, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/map-publishers-hiding-copyright-traps/380457/18 "2006-11-16T21:05:12Z")
[QUOTE=gotpasswords] I have a globe here that’s filled with what are either blatant traps or really bad translations, listing places like San Diago (San Diego, CA) and Farqo (Fargo, ND) Years ago, I found traps extend to the rough-and-tumble world of phone books. I was in (IIRC) Nashville, and while browsing the book, found a listing that had to be a phony: (caution: profanity in the spoiler box) SHITHEAD, A. At least I hope that was a phony listing! [/QUOTE] I believe that’s a real name (I think it’s fairly common in India), pronounced “Shih-THAYD.” ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2006, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/map-publishers-hiding-copyright-traps/380457/19 "2006-11-16T21:58:11Z")
[QUOTE=chorpler] I believe that’s a real name (I think it’s fairly common in India), pronounced “Shih-THAYD.” [/QUOTE] Just in case you’re not joking: No, it isn’t. **Dikshit** , however, is a not uncommon name in India. (Sometimes spelled “Dixit.”) ---
**Author:** ![postcards](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8e8cbc/32.png) [@postcards](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/postcards)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2006, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/map-publishers-hiding-copyright-traps/380457/20 "2006-11-18T15:57:33Z")
[QUOTE=Mycroft H.] Another method of map copy checking I’ve seen is to include very small existing towns…The only reason I could think of for these towns to be included in a statewide map was as a check for copying. [/QUOTE] Or a highly defined sense of accuracy on the part of the cartographer. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/map-publishers-hiding-copyright-traps/380457.md?page=2)