I sure didn't mean to open a can of worms...only wanted each of you to be aware of what could possibly happen. Please do not get me wrong..I see both sides of the coin but.. The person who has the copyright on the census books will share the information with you if you pay for the book. But it is like going into Walmarts and using a tube of lipstick every day before going to work...isn't that stealing? Any way you look at it in the long run you have to pay to view this info..whether it is "renting" the microfilm from LDS...getting copies at your archives..or buying a cd or book. As far as The Heritage of Morgan Co. AL book...yes people donated the info to the society BUT who put up the money to have it published? We are not talking 100's of dollars but 1000's. And the publishers always want their money up front with a minimum order and do not care if you sell all of them or not. Now it is not the people who worked many hours putting the information together so it would be a marvelous tool that gets any money from sales. But it is the society. And I guarantee you from each book..if like most publishers..the society may have gotten $15 -$20 on each book..IF they were lucky. Now what comes from the little they would make from each sale..would be new published books..can't publish on looks<GR>..microfilm readers..purchasing microfilm...new books for the society..some societies have to pay rent for their building..utilities so we can read and keep cool or warm when we visit..computers..and keeping them maintained...genealogical cds..ink...paper..even if they do not own the building..leases still require you to maintain the building (abt all you get out from fixing is the roof)...I could go on and on but I think you get the idea it takes money just for us to have a place to gather our information from the society and have it housed. As far as lookups on the list or the website..NOT ONE society member asked or suggested that I not allow lookups from The Heritage of Morgan County AL book until they were all sold. I made that rule as I know they have a lot of money tied up in it and I do not feel it is fair to them to "take money" from their pockets since they are not a publishing company they are limited on their monies from the few books they sell. In the past couple of years I have seen societies go under and I don't think anyone would want to see Morgan Co gen soc not be available because they could not make the bills. Even though we may not agree with all the copyright laws..they are there to protect those that spend hours and money to gather the information to publish their books. Kathy