Recently, a much ballyhooed topic floating around on blogs is that of iPodSubwayMaps.com’s use of maps of NYC and San Francisco subway systems. Fred Wilson calls the situation “ridiculous,” and is right in pointing out that the service being provided does make the use of the subways in those cities “easier” for those who use the service - being that it can be placed on a device that a lot of people are using already. However, I think Fred is off base when he (along with Jeff Jarvis) are stating that this isn’t a copyright issue.
Sure, the subway system “belongs” to the people in the way that it is there for the public’s use. But the physical maps are “owned” by whomever created them. Those maps are images, or artwork, and someone spent the time to put them together - whether by hand, mouse, or some other technique. The simple solution - and the one that the proprietor of the website has taken - is to just re-do the maps himself. Sure, the logic of the MTA and BART to go after the site might be off base - and I think it’s awful shortsighted, but that doesn’t mean that the previous works shouldn’t belong to the individual or entity that created them, for as long as the copyright lasts.
I don’t know about you, but I’m beginning to sense a bit of logic-loss when it comes to people going after anything “big business” or “big government” these days. Just because you can do things doesn’t mean that you should do so in the first method that pops into your mind. Companies are opening their eyes to the new way of doing things, and perhaps this was a chance for those of us who hold some of the cards (read: bloggers, iPodSubwayMaps’ William Bright, and those who are on the Cluetrain). The triumphalism and chest beating isn’t all it’s cracked up to be, and is the reason that many people have a problem with the new world of media.
