Copyright Trap facts

While investigating facts about Copyright Traps On Maps and Copyright Trap Towns, I found out little known, but curios details like:

Map makers created an imaginary town as a copyright trap but so many people went there it became a real town until the only store closed

how copyright notice works?

A mapmaker made up the town of Agloe, NY as a copyright trap. When it appeared on another map in the '50s the mapmaker tried to sue only to find that it had become a real town, making a lawsuit impossible

In my opinion, it is useful to put together a list of the most interesting details from trusted sources that I've come across. Here are 18 of the best facts about Copyright Trap Weasel and Copyright Trap Dictionary I managed to collect.

what is a copyright trap?

1. A map making company in the 1930s placed a made up an hamlet (village) in their maps as a copyright trap. Years later the village started showing up on Rand McNally maps. The originator of the map sued for copyright infringement, but in fact locals and government had adopted and used the name.

2. The OED included a trap, made up word, "Esquivalience" which it defined to mean "the willful avoidance of one's official responsibilities" as a copyright infringement trap which caught both Dictionary.com and Google Dictionary.

3. Copyright owners of factual compilations like maps and phone books will include mistakes on purpose as a "copyright trap" to catch illegal copiers in the act.

4. Map makers fabricate streets and geographical landmarks, called "Trap Streets," to catch copyright violators.

5. Agloe, New York was an imaginary town that became real. Created on a 1937 map as a copyright trap (a fake location used to fool others copying the map), a visitor decided to open a store. Agloe became a real (if very small) location for 40 years, but the store closed and Agloe is now dead.

6. Map makers will sometimes add fake "Trap Streets" to their maps to help catch copyright violators who would be unable to explain the presence of the street on their map

7. Agloe, New York, the town was created fictionally by General Drafting Company as a copyright trap but when map-makers Rand McNally added it to one of their maps it was revealed that an actual town had been built in place of the fictional one

Why include copyright notice?

You can easily fact check it by examining the linked well-known sources.

Mapmakers will often place a tiny piece of incorrect information in their maps to prevent illegal reproduction of their work. Called a "copyright trap," the fake text might be a bogus street name or even the mapmakers' initials hidden in the corner of a city park.

Non-existent cities and towns are placed on maps as copyright traps - source

What happens to a channel when it receives a copyright takedown notice?

Lillian Virginia Mountweazel and Agloe are used as copyright traps.