Copyright Location and Vicinity Maps

[bvn]

I often see reproductions of commercial maps in geotechnical reports that appear to disregard copyrights. These maps are usually used to point out the vicinity and/or location of a project site.

I am curious where various people get their legal reproductions from? How do people go about ensuring that they are not committing copyright infringement?

 

[SteveWag]

I have tried to use USGS or state highway maps as location maps, as these are in the public domain. I was involved in a case where a radio station used a copyrighted map in a promotion and got sued big time. The state highway maps are safe!

Steve

 

[msquared48]

Information in the Public Domain, or a program you purchased such as Map Quest or Microsoft Streets and Trips is the key to this to be safe. No worries.

Mike McCann
McCann Engineering

 

[bvn]

Based upon the previous post I have reviewed the EULA for Microsoft Streets and Trips and do not see anything that states you cannot use reproductions in a commercially generated report.

However, I am still nervous that commercial use of a map image reproduced from a personal software product could be interpreted as "selling" reproductions of the manufacturers content because I am being paid for the report which is a product of my work.

I have noticed that internet-based maps are very clear and explicit that you cannot reproduce their content in any way for commercial use.