>would say you should retain copyright on a topographic map you’ve made of the Grand Canyon, even though that’s really just a 3D scan.
But it's absolutely not "just a 3D scan". I mean, unless you literally had a bunch of drones or something fly through the Grand Canyon and make an actual 3D scan as a pure replication with no further work, sure that'd be a real 3D scan. But actual maps always require creativity. There is no one way to draw lines, objects, water, etc. What should be included on a map, and what is noise? How do you balance between level of detail vs noisiness? What is worthy of being included? What kind of coloring/texture/shading? A hundred cartographers with the exact same tech could all make a map of an area and every single map would be different to one degree or another, not least depending on the exact purpose the map was intended for. That's was particularly true with the limitations of paper, but it still is even electronically. Take a look at the standard map view for Apple Maps vs Google Maps vs various Open Street Maps etc. For the exact same area they'll all be emphasizing different things, and reasonable people very much do disagree on the best way.
So maps are very much copyrightable (though lots are in the public domain since works of the USG are all public domain). They're not just mechanical reproductions.
But it's absolutely not "just a 3D scan". I mean, unless you literally had a bunch of drones or something fly through the Grand Canyon and make an actual 3D scan as a pure replication with no further work, sure that'd be a real 3D scan. But actual maps always require creativity. There is no one way to draw lines, objects, water, etc. What should be included on a map, and what is noise? How do you balance between level of detail vs noisiness? What is worthy of being included? What kind of coloring/texture/shading? A hundred cartographers with the exact same tech could all make a map of an area and every single map would be different to one degree or another, not least depending on the exact purpose the map was intended for. That's was particularly true with the limitations of paper, but it still is even electronically. Take a look at the standard map view for Apple Maps vs Google Maps vs various Open Street Maps etc. For the exact same area they'll all be emphasizing different things, and reasonable people very much do disagree on the best way.
So maps are very much copyrightable (though lots are in the public domain since works of the USG are all public domain). They're not just mechanical reproductions.