Subsequent query/explanation(s) re copyright of NGA nautical charts (UKHO mentioned, too). Francis Herbert From: Maps-L: Map Librarians, etc. [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Kathy Stroud Sent: 03 April 2015 18:43 To: [log in to unmask] Subject: Re: NGA Nautical charts Hi all, Many of the NGA maps are made with data supplied by foreign allied countries that do not consider their geographic data in the public domain. Their agreements with NGA may not allow for public distribution of the resulting materials in the same manner that we distribute government collected information. There have been gaps in what foreign nautical charts were distributed online because of that. It may be that they were all taken down because it has become a manpower drain to parse out which can be made available from which ones can’t. On a side note, if you look at your paper nautical charts of non-US waters, you will see copyright notices on some. I seem to recall that charts made with information provided by the United kingdom Hydrographic Office are subject to copyright. Kathy Stroud From: Maps-L: Map Librarians, etc. [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Angela R Cope Sent: Friday, April 03, 2015 10:18 AM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: Re: NGA Nautical charts Thanks for sharing Michael. I don't recall hearing about this. We treat nautical charts like they're not copyrighted (giving high resolution tiffs to anyone who wants them). Can someone explain why NOAA/NGA maps are copyrighted? This is another reason to be careful about weeding collections simply because maps are online. These online map collections are so ephemeral. Angie AGSL opinions are my own _____ From: Maps-L: Map Librarians, etc. <[log in to unmask]> on behalf of Fry, Michael <[log in to unmask]> Sent: Friday, April 3, 2015 10:11 AM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: [MAPS-L] NGA Nautical charts Maybe this isn't news to you all, but I just discovered that the online index and chart viewer that gave the public access to hi-res versions of NGA's nautical charts of non-US coastal waters worldwide have been taken down from NOAA's site. (A couple of years ago they removed most charts due to copyright restrictions. Now they've removed them all.) See my correspondence with NOAA/OCS below... For the moment, some charts are still viewable online at www.nauticalchartsonline.com. Not sure how long that'll last if copyright is the obstacle to free online access. mf Original message: Hi, Not too long ago, the <http://nauticalcharts.noaa.gov/> nauticalcharts.noaa.gov website hosted indexes to NGA nautical charts of non-US waters and hi-res versions of charts from the handful of regions (1, 5 and 9?) that they still had permission to make freely available. I don't see this resource available anymore. Has it moved, or has NGA removed all of their nautical charts from free public access? Thank you. Michael Fry Map Librarian and Map Editor National Geographic Society <mailto:[log in to unmask]> [log in to unmask]; <tel:202.857.7098> 202.857.7098 OCS response: Thank you for contacting NOAA. Due to copyright restrictions, we had to remove all NGA charts from our web site. -- Michael Fry Map Editor and Senior Map Librarian National Geographic Society 1145 17th St. N.W. Washington, D.C. 20036 202.857.7098 and 202.791.1892 [log in to unmask]