A former editor of The Irish Times, Douglas Gageby, was threatened with legal proceedings when this newspaper reproduced a map without acknowledging the Ordnance Survey Office as the source.
The map was produced to illustrate the introduction of one-way systems in Dublin. The new system introduced one-way routes on part of the quays and streets such as Westmoreland Street, Capel Street and Talbot Street.
A clearly angry Colonel N MacNeill, assistant director of the Ordnance Survey, wrote to Gageby saying the newspaper's failure to credit the Ordnance Survey Office was "a most serious interference" with Government copyright.
"I have therefore to request that a prominent apology for the infringement will be published in The Irish Times, failing which I shall have no alternative but to place the matter in the hands of the solicitor to the Department of Finance, with a view to legal proceedings."
Gageby promptly wrote to the Minister for Justice, Mr Haughey, enclosing the letter.
"I doubt if the Government copyright is in such jeopardy that the Ordnance Survey has to threaten me with legal proceedings as a result," he wrote.
Gageby said he would welcome Mr Haughey's views, given that he was responsible for traffic regulations.
However the correspondence ends with that letter, and a note saying: "Secretary phoned. No further action necessary."
