Brendan, In the United States you can trademark a projection and Buckminster Fuller is the one example of this that comes readily to mind. The Dymaxion map projection is trademarked and you must contact the Institute to use it. You can read that here: https://www.bfi.org/about-fuller/big-ideas/dymaxion-world/dymaxion-map . Stanford holds the Fuller archives. We spoke to the folks at the Buckminister Fuller Institute about putting the projection into the public domain to encourage wider usage, but were not able to convince them of the worth of this move. Best, Julie **** Julie Sweetkind-Singer Assistant Director of Geospatial and Cartographic Services Head, Branner Earth Sciences Map Library & Map Collections 397 Panama Mall, 2nd floor Stanford University Stanford, CA 94305 650-725-1102 ________________________________ From: Maps-L: Map Librarians, etc. <[log in to unmask]> on behalf of Brendan Whyte <[log in to unmask]> Sent: Monday, November 7, 2016 10:18:09 PM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: map projection copyright George, I don't think you can copyright a projection. Copyright is protection for an artistic/literary expression. A particular map can be copyrighted for the style in which it is drawn (linework, color scheme, fonts), but not the content of it (unless a map of a fictitious area) or the projection. The mathematics of a particular projection would possibly be patentable, but not copyrightable. Brendan Whyte National Library of Australia ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 7 Nov 2016 16:37:08 -0500 From: George Carhart <[log in to unmask]> Subject: map projection copyright can anyone tell me the best way to find a list of copyright dates for world map projections developed in the 20th century. Thanks George Carhart -- --------------------------- Dr. George S. Carhart, Ph.D Historian of Cartography and Early Modern Europe Antiquarian Map Consultant Historic Research Consultant 7 Lafayette Street Portland ME, 04101 USA (207) 766-1517 ------------------------------ End of MAPS-L Digest - 6 Nov 2016 to 7 Nov 2016 (#2016-218) ***********************************************************