Virtual Map/Singapore Land Authority Appeal

I have attached a link below to an article concerning a case in Singapore in which Virtual Map is accused by Singapore Land Authority (SLA) of violating SLA's copyright in creating maps for streetdirectory.com. The court ruled in favor of SLA in August, and Virtual Map has appealed. The central issue in the case is to what extent Virtual Map used SLA's maps in creating its own maps. Virtual Map says that it only used SLA maps in order to drive around to collect GPS data for its own maps. However, SLA argued that the SLA maps were used as a backbone for Virtual Map's products, and that Virtual Map would not have been able to create its maps without the SLA maps. It also cites phantom features on the SLA maps that it believes appear on streedirectory.com's maps. I have also attached a link to the August decision. As the decision shows, determining copyright violations in the case of a map can be very difficult and requires detailed analysis. Ironically, Virtual Map has made a name for itself in attempting to enforce its copyright in spatial data.

http://www.gisdevelopment.net/news/viewn.asp?id=GIS:N_tmhkexcbqd

http://app.subcourts.gov.sg/Data/Files/File/GroundsOfDecision/GD_DCA192007_SLAandVirtualMap.pdf

http://www.lawdit.co.uk/reading_room/room/view_article.asp?name=../articles/100%20companies%20sent%20bills.htm