I wouldn’t have known anything about an anagram-based Tube map if Transport for London hadn’t made a fuss about killing it. Of course, once it’s ‘out there’, there’s no such thing as ‘removal’ – Google helped me find a copy within a couple of clicks. It’s very amusing.
You know what they say about imitation and flattery? TfL should be openminded about this sort of thing, and embrace the ‘mash-up’ culture. In a statement to The Register, they say: ‘The present Tube map created by Harry Beck in 1931 is a design classic.’ EXACTLY! – and that’s why people want to pay tribute to it. Every time someone makes the effort to do something creative with the Tube map, its status as a global icon is enhanced. It’s probably in TfL’s interests to let them do that.
Protect your copyright, sure. But if ‘numerous requests (to produce an alternative) are received every week’, TfL should allow them unless there’s a good reason not to, rather than refusing unless there’s a good reason to allow it. Work with your customers where you can. Even to the extent of having a gallery of the best mashups on your own website.