Map of the United States from appraisers.com in May 2002. Copyright in these maps was the subject of a lawsuit, which ultimately found that the maps were not copyrightable as they were unoriginal derivative works of preexisting maps from the census. The court rejected that the additional elements, including "font and color selection;  visual effects such as relief, shadowing, and shading;  labeling;  call-outs," were protectible. Anti-aliasing was also not found to be sufficiently original to warrant copyright protection. 
<p><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://caselaw.findlaw.com/us-4th-circuit/1399579.html">DARDEN v. PETERS</a>:
</p><p>"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."
</p>
"We conclude that the Register properly refused to register Darden's Maps work."
Sean Pecor
1999
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