Tell me, if I buy a clever GPS thingy with OS on a card, can I copy that card? the concept of a single version of something expensive is unimaginable.

Viewranger do some free maps.

http://www.viewranger.com/en-gb/world-of-maps/free-maps

Other than that the paid for os maps have been transferred from device to device no problems.

If you buy a Memory Map device the OS map on the card is locked to the card, but you also get a copy on CD. You can install that on a PC, and depending on the licence terms, another device. You register online and if you move the licence between devices it tracks where you have it. The file is encrypted so if if doesn.t have the licence it wont run. Unlike most software, the program is unlocked but the data is locked.

If you are buying a Garmin, check the current licensing conditions very carefully. I bought a new Garmin to replace a broken unit, and discovered that I couldn’t install the maps (on CD) that I bought for the original device. Garmin confirmed that was their policy; installation to one device only. So if I had lost the original device the day after I bought it, for example, the CD maps are effectively useless.
Not very impressed with Garmin. I think I should be able to install my maps on more than one device, as long as I am not using them on more than one device simultaneously.

Licencing aside. (I would regard a purchase as mine to be used as many time as I like, bugger the rules) It still seems variable.
Lets say I bought the 1:50,000 OS card for a Garmin 800. Can I back up that card?

Found the viewranger maps but do you think I get an example. Anyone?

Example pic?

Or example map? Once you have the app, they give you two credits which enables you to buy two map tiles.

bugger the rules

The problem is that it’s not just a licensing agreement. I cannot actually install and enable the maps on a second device because of the way that Garmin’s DRM works.