Virtual Map’s Copyright Endorsed by Singapore High Court

The plaintiff, Virtual Map, is a leading location-based and mapping consultancy company in the Asia-Pacific region, with headquarters in Singapore. It operates the online streetdirectory.com, a popular website that enjoys heavy user traffic daily. Virtual Map had obtained a non-exclusive licence from the Singapore Land Authority ("SLA") who owns the copyright in the vector data. However, in order to produce the maps made available on its website, Virtual Map regularly conducts location surveys, purchases raw data, operates global positioning system (GPS) equipment and obtains feedback from users, to ensure the information is current.

Virtual Map’s website includes terms and conditions which inform a user that the copyright of the maps is owned by it and the maps may be downloaded upon paying a licence fee.