3 ms·
Most maps are deliberately inaccurate in subtle ways. You can't copyright facts, so cartographers use fictional places and deliberate errors to protect their wo
by jdietrich 8y ago
Most maps are deliberately inaccurate in subtle ways. You can't copyright facts, so cartographers use fictional places and deliberate errors to protect their work. If these features appear on another map, then it's reasonable to assume that they were plagiarised. Historically, cartographers have often created settlements or roads where none actually exist; inventing fictional names for districts or mis-spelling some place names may be a safer option in the age of GPS and autonomous cars.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fictitious_entry https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fictitious_entry
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trap_street https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trap_street
- ThirdFoundation 8y agoI always liked the story of Agloe, NY. It became an actual landmark after being invented to catch plagiarism. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agloe,_New_York https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agloe,_New_York https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phantom_settlement https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phantom_settlement
- lucb1e 8y agoThere may be very small and subtle things added, omitted or changed, but it's not the case that "most maps" are completely inaccurate in subtle ways for this reason. Trap streets are just that: single streets, usually tiny ones, that are either completely fictitious or a mislabeled driveway or something. Not whole neighbourhoods being made up.
- raldi 8y agoActually, you can copyright facts, or more specifically a work produced via a significant effort to compile facts: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copyright_in_compilation https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copyright_in_compilation This is precisely why mapmakers introduce deliberate errors, so they can prove that a plagiarizer produced a copycat atlas not by recompiling from the basic facts, but rather used the compilation as a starting point.