copyright trap

— Publishers of maps sometimes include copyright traps—small errors such as the inclusion of a nonexistent road, “trap street,” or a fictitious bend in a road. If a competitor wrongfully copies the map, copyright traps may prove useful in a court case. In 2001 the British Automobile Association paid 20 million pounds in an out-of-court settlement to the British Ordnance Survey after having plagiarized their maps, including copyright traps (Clark 2001).