Including maps in stories / copyright

josephperin said:

My main characters are on the run across North Africa. I'd like to include maps at the beginning of each chapter showing where they are at that point. I can get fairly decent ones on Google Maps and photoshop them to look old and tattered.

Anyone know what are the copyright issues on using maps?

Click to expand...

Here's the link to the permissions page for Google Maps. I found it by searching for copyright Google Maps.

If you're hoping for a trade publishing deal this is not something you need to worry about. Your publisher should take care of such things for you.

josephperin said:

My main characters are on the run across North Africa. I'd like to include maps at the beginning of each chapter showing where they are at that point. I can get fairly decent ones on Google Maps and photoshop them to look old and tattered.

Click to expand...

Permissions aside, be careful about over-Photoshopping. "Old and tattered" can easily be "utterly unreadable", especially if you're e-publishing and the picture will be seen on an eInk screen. (I've also seen some over-dark, illegible maps in print books, too.) As a reader, I'll take legibility over effect any day of the week. If you plan on self-publishing, and you're not proficient in creating graphics for print/e-books, you might consider consulting/hiring someone who is.

JMHO...