Thank you everyone, for pointing me to the right source for my copyright questions. I have checked the US Copyright homepage, and still cannot find answers to a couple of questions. Can anyone on the list educate me further? If I've missed something on the homepage, please feel free to chastise! If I gave another person a ged-com, without any notes, sources, or documentation, I understand that neither he nor I can copyright that. But I am unclear as to whether or not he can copyright scanned photos that I gave him. I have the originals. Here is my dilemma. I gave my family member a ged-com and some scanned photos. Against my wished he is now publishing these on CD's that he plans to distribute on his own. He says that he is going to copyright the CD's in BOTH of our names. I understand that he is mistaken about being able to officially copyright in MY name. I would have to give my own signature for that. But, according to the information I just read on the Copyright site, all he has to do is "claim" the work as being copyrighted. He does NOT have to send in an application (although this is advisable). Do I tell him that my ged-com and original photos are already copyrighted, even though the ged-com cannot technically be copyrighted? If he copyrights the CD's in his own name, without my name on them, won't that mean I am infringing on HIS copyright when I reprint my own data in my own book? Although I told him that it is only ethical to include my name as the source for the genealogy, I do NOT want my name associated with publishing the CD's. But, I don't want this trouble-making family member to sue me later for infringing on HIS copyright. By the way, I sure do appreciate all of the good advice that everyone on the list has been giving me through all of my mess. What a great collaboration of people! Laura