In a message dated 7/27/99 9:37:51 AM Eastern Daylight Time, walloon@mailbag.com writes: << What I am trying to say is that no person or organization can hold copyright to the facts contained on the gravestones of cemeteries, and mere transcription of those facts does not create a copyrightable work. >> Steve: You probably are right if all transcribers did was make out a "grocery-style" list of cemetary headings. Many I've seen add a bit more than that. And yes, just "sweat of the brow" is not enough to claim copyright status. But other protections (arrangement, style, content, etc) can expand the scope of claim. Otherwise, many people who gather information of all types would not bother to do so unless they felt their work had some form of protection. One (of many) excellents sites to read about copyrights is: http://www.genealogy.com/genealogy/14_cpyrt.html Another, particularly in view of all the information that is posted on the internet is: http://www.templetons.com/brad/copymyths.html Gloria raglady@aol.com ô¿ô