File:Arkansas map by Sean Pecor.png

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Description

English: Map of Arkansas, created for APPRAISERSdotCOM by Sean Pecor. Based on preexisting black and white US Census maps. Pecor added to the original free maps "font and color selection; visual effects such as relief, shadowing, and shading; labeling; call-outs." United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit found that these additions are not eligible for copyright in a 2007 decision.

Date

circa 2000

Source

appraisers.com: Page, Pic. Modifications: converted from GIF to PNG.

Author

United States Census Bureau (original maps), Sean Pecor (derivative work)

Permission
(Reusing this file)

Original maps:

This image or file is a work of a United States Census Bureau employee, taken or made as part of that person's official duties. As a work of the U.S. federal government, the image is in the public domain.

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Derivative work by Sean Pecor:

This work is ineligible for copyright and therefore in the public domain because it consists entirely of information that is common property and contains no original authorship.

See Darden v. Peters, 2007 WL 1501355 (4th Cir. May 24, 2007) [1]. Court found that:

We first consider the refusal of the Copyright Office to register Darden's Maps work. In each of the three letters denying registration, the Copyright Office explained that the changes and additions Darden made to the standard census maps in his Maps work claim were uncopyrightable elements that were insufficiently original or creative to be copyrightable. See Satava v. Lowry, 323 F.3d 805, 812 n. 5 (9th Cir.2003) (noting that "expressions that are standard, stock, or common to a particular subject matter or medium are not protectable under copyright law"). Additions to the preexisting maps such as color, shading, and labels using standard fonts and shapes fall within the narrow category of works that lack even a minimum level of creativity; indeed, Darden's contributions to the preexisting maps resemble the list of examples of uncopyrightable works set forth in 37 C.F.R. § 202.1(a).

Darden points out that courts have recognized that maps have "have an inherent pictorial or photographic nature that merits copyright protection." Mason v. Montgomery Data, Inc., 967 F.2d 135, 142 (5th Cir.1992); see Streetwise Maps, Inc. v. VanDam, Inc., 159 F.3d 739 (2d Cir.1998). The general proposition that maps are categorically eligible for copyright registration, however, does not establish that the maps at issue here are copyrightable.

[...]

We conclude that the Register properly refused to register Darden's Maps work. Because there was no abuse of discretion, we decline to set aside the decision of the Copyright Office.