The U.S. Copyright Office will register maps, globes, and other cartographic works if they display a sufficient amount of original pictorial or sculptural authorship.
The Office may register an original selection, coordination, and/or arrangement of cartographic features, such as roads, lakes, or rivers, cities, or political or geographic boundaries. But to be copyrightable, the work as a whole must be creative and it must not be intrinsically utilitarian. In making this determination, the Office will not consider the amount of effort required to create the work, such as surveying or cartographic field work.
918.2 Derivative Maps
Maps are often based on one or more preexisting works. A derivative map may be eligible for registration if the author added a sufficient amount of new authorship to the preexisting material, such as depictions of new roads, historical landmarks, or zoning boundaries.
If the map contains an appreciable amount of material that has been previously published, previously registered, material that is in the public domain, or material that is owned by a third party, the applicant should exclude that material from the claim and should limit the claim to the new copyrightable authorship that the author contributed to the derivative map. For guidance in completing this portion of the application, see Chapter 600, Section 621.8.
The Office will refuse to register a derivative map if the work does not contain a sufficient amount of new authorship. For instance, "[ajdditions to ... 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" required for registration. Darden v. Peters, 488 F.3d 277, 287 (4th Cir. 2007). Reprints of public domain maps or previously published materials are not registrable. Similarly, maps that consist solely of public domain elements, common elements, or elements that contain no original compilation authorship are not registrable, such as an outline map of the United States containing nothing more than the names of the state capitals.
919 Models, Including Three-Dimensional Reproductions and Scientific Models
For purposes of copyright registration, a model is a three-dimensional replica or depiction of an object or design, such as a model car or a model of an architectural design. Models are typically protected under U.S. copyright law as sculptural works, although they also may include pictorial or graphic elements. This Section discusses certain issues that commonly arise in connection with such works.
919.1 Copyrightable Authorship in Models
Models may be renditions of either artistic or utilitarian objects. Some models are exact or substantially similar copies of the item they depict, while others are merely interpretative copies.
A model of a useful article or a model of an architectural work generally is protectable if it includes a substantial amount of original authorship and if it contains some original
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