438 The National Geographic Magazine 



The government itself, by reason of its great consumption of maps, has been 

 a leading factor in raising the standard and in educating and encouraging the map 



artist — or should we sa}' the map scientist? Geneva, 

 Not such maps as you wash Switzerland, said to have been for so many years the 



houses with, but maps of coun- n - ., ., , , 



. . nr-jj, 1 c-jl • 1 greatest map-producing center of the world, has been 



tries. — Middleton, Spanish ° r r a . 



Gvpsy. relieved of the laurels she so gracefully wore, and our 



own Washington carries the honor as one of the pearls 



in her precious diadem. A dozen different bureaus of our government are engaged 



in map- work of some sort, not alone of this country, but of all portions of the 



globe, its seas and skies. It has enticed to our shores the best workmen of Europe. 



Government maps are public property, so far as the copyright provisions are 



concerned, and are not copyrightable. This is one of the reasons why private 



establishments are enabled to issue more and better 

 Peering; in maps for ports r , • , , ,, , ■, 



, . , r , „, maps 01 many kinds at a low price than can be turned 



and piers and roads. — Mer- r r 



chmt of Venice. ' out anywhere else on the globe. It is getting so now 



that when one wishes to make a journey afoot or by 

 train, carriage, wheel, or automobile a map can be consulted for information as 

 to roads, time, distances, grades, bridges, paths, hostleries, repairs, and fuel, to 

 make no mention of the weather and stars and tides. The practical benefits are 

 multifarious. 



When Hecatseus (500 B. C.) warned his countrymen against 

 engaging in a conflict with Darius he enforced his arguments by 

 pointing out the vast extent of the Persian Empire upon a map of 

 the " entire circuit of the world," which had been engraved upon 

 a brazen tablet. — Mill's International Geography. 



DIRECTIONS FOR OBTAINING COPYRIGHT 



It is the design of the writer in this article to give a few simple, elementary- 

 directions for the guidance of the applicant for copyright protection. When a 

 map or chart has been produced and the author or legal owner of it desires to 

 obtain the benefit of the copyright privileges, the first step should be to write to 

 the Register of Copj'rights, Washington, D. C. , for a blank application. These 

 blanks are so arranged that in a few words the applicant can insert all necessary 

 information. The use of the blank will insure the quickest possible favorable 

 action, and any other form of application is liable to omit some vital requirement 

 of the law, causing delay and perhaps vexation. The prime requisites are: Name 

 and address of the applicant ; amount of money enclosed and its nature ; nature 

 of the article to be copj-righted ; title of the work ; name of the claimant of the 

 copyright and residence ; country in which the article is to be printed or pro- 

 duced ; name of the author and of the country of which he is a citizen or subject ; 

 form of claim, as to whether author, designer, or proprietor ; name and address 

 to whom reply is to be mailed ; a copy of the printed title. 



After the blank has been received and filled out, there will be noticed that 



