Copyright and maps
I'm a bit confused about how copyright applies to real-world maps. Specifically, I'm interested in making a map of Jurassic earth which, as much as we know about it currently, constitutes "facts" and are therefore not covered under copyright. However, to actually make a map, I'd have to consult maps of Jurassic earth that are copyrighted. Clearly, those maps were made, and different copyright-holders made some pretty similar maps. I mean, is it just colours and so on that are copyrighted with factual maps? Or in a case like this does every person have to reconstruct their own version of Jurassic earth?
Does anybody know about this?
Does anybody know about this?
Comments
That's probably not much help - sorry!
On serious maps (not fantasy maps) there is usually a little box somewhere with something about the 'Source' of the data. Maybe it should be necessary to do a Source box to say where you got the coastline from, and be completely original about everything else you put on the map other than that? But I wouldn't have the foggiest idea about the actual copyright on whichever source you decide to use. If you want to publish the map or redistribute it once you have drawn it (ie, its not just personal use), you may have to research the source and may even need to ask permission to use it. After all - even the coastline will have taken many people a lot of time to discern.
Overall, unless there was one particular map you really liked and wanted to simply copy - in which case, any copyright issues would revolve solely around that map and its creators - you'll likely end up having to construct your map yourself from various strands of evidence and more than one map, extrapolating continental positions and so forth. Thus your construction would be separate to all those others (though you might well wish to cite your sources with your map, both as a courtesy, and so anyone who may wish to check the facts behind the map would be able to do so).
While the reconstructed ancient Earth maps are indeed made using the best available evidence, there is a lot of interpretive work, and extrapolation from the known facts involved, primarily because the evidence is generally from relatively isolated pockets of information that humans have managed to collect. That can be from tiny boreholes a few inches in diameter, up to surface rock outcrops extending for many miles, thus some areas end up better understood for specific geological "moments" than others. Consequently, all the global-level geological reconstruction maps always contain far more interpretation than factual evidence.
What I'd recommend in the first instance specifically for the Jurassic period is to go to the ResearchGate website, where you can freely download a PDF copy of the Atlas of Jurassic Paleogeographic Maps even if you're not a member of ResearchGate (and you can join it for free if you wish). The purpose of ResearchGate, like other similar online resources, is to allow researchers to make their work more widely-known and to allow better progress and collaboration in the subjects discussed. While the materials posted remain copyrighted by their originators, anyone is free to examine the materials including for use and citation in their own work, providing appropriate credit is given. This page has details on the copyright situation for the ResearchGate site specifically.
I like this PDF Atlas, as you can click from page to page and feel like you're watching a timelapse movie of how the world changed!
I must note as well of course that this is just ONE of a host of online map resources for the Jurassic period, and I make no guarantees it's the most authoritative. A simple search for individual geological period map images will bring up a host more.
Wyvern, thanks for the link to that excellent PDF atlas; the resolutions are far better than at Dr. Scotea's site. In the interest of sharing resources, and acknowledging that you probably know of it already, I found this interesting project after posting my question: http://www.globalgeology.com/. The site allows you to generate maps from quite a few different timescales that will show you continent positions and a variety of other things, such as climate reconstructions and geological information. It's a map enthusiast's dream, particularly when they have an interest in the earth's history.
I was primarily looking for a map of 148 mya, as this is the general continent positions that D & D 's Known World setting, also known as Mystara, was loosely patterned after. Fans of Mystara have done a pretty thorough job of mapping and remapping the setting, but recently there has been some small interest in thinking about a more accurate depiction (as far as possible of course!) of where things would be. I was thinking about taking a stab at this, but if I did I would want to publish it on the Mystara fansite I think (if they would take it). But I also thought that if I did do a lot of work on a possible rendering, I might want to try selling some whimsical regional maps of the period. Your point about the uncertain knowledge of all our information on the period is of course precisely true and seemingly compounds the difficulty of the issue. I think given the nature of the atlas, it is probably enough to include a credit and be forthcoming about the fact that I developed my own reconstruction off of the fine work done there.
Does this sound reasonable? Should I contact the author instead?
I'd not realised the Mystara/Known World setting was based on the Jurassic real-world continental layout. It first appeared in D&D after my involvement with the game had moved on to constructing my own world settings and variant rules, by about 1980, however, so that's not so surprising. Consequently, I'm no expert on this! Looking quickly through the available online maps though, I'm struggling to find much of a consistent pattern regarding the Known World's layout, or indeed its completeness (and there seems also some disagreement as to whether the Known World and Mystara should be considered synonymous). This rather suggests that any correlations to real-world past geography could be classed as more or less accidental anyway. So I suspect it may come down to a question of how important it is that "your" Mystara is close to the real-world 148 mya Jurassic continental pattern, and if so, how "close" is close in this context. There seems a lot of leeway for interpretation from my cursory examination, but it's clear you're far more expert about this than I'm likely to be after only such a brief check!