Not true. When you were in school if you handcopied another student's home work, was that not cheating? If you looked on another student's test paper and copied, by hand, his answer onto your test paper, was that not cheating? Margaret McCleskey, > Scott Anderson wrote: > > > > On Tuesday, November 21, 2000, Bennie White <[email protected]> wrote: > > > I have to speak my piece here! I have personally spent literally years > > > compiling census data from microfilm and compiling into my format (basically > > > the same structure as the original document, with some minor modifications > > > of my own). While I totally agree that the data itself is public domain and > > > cannot be copyrighted, my format most certainly is. > > > > If all you made are minor modifications to the table format, especially if > they are "obvious" or a simple rearrangement, I sincerely doubt if it qualifies > as copyrightable. Remember, as Tom Thatcher pointed out, the purpose of > copyright is to protect creativity. > > I disagree on that point, I'm sorry. > > > > > > Why to you see copyright notices posted on most every census compilation > > > published (including my own)? > > > > FUD = Fear, uncertainty, and doubt. Make them think it is copyrighted, even if > it isn't. You have nothing to lose by doing so. > > Not true! It's put there to keep someone from reproducing it and selling it for > profit. If the original compiler is selling these publications, it would affect > his > financial status. That's the only reason I ever show a copyright on my works. > Making > a copy of a page for personal research is OK, but not the whole book. > > > > > > Now if someone takes my work, sets down, hand copies the data, and puts it > > > into a similar format, while not morally or ethically the thing to do, it > > > would probably be OK; however, it someone reproduces a copy mechanically of > > > each page, then puts into a book format with their name on it as the > > > compiler, then woe to them! If it's my work they have ripped off, I will > > > take them to the highest court. > > > > And you would probably lose. It doesn't matter if it is hand copied or machine > >copied. > > I seriously doubt I would lose if I pressed it. It matters a great deal! Hand > copying is the author's work; machine copying is someone else's work. > > > > Now, if your table was full of notes such as corrections, alternate spellings, > >references to other data, etc. a mechanical reproduction would be unlikely to > separate >those out, and you would probably have a case. > > I have numerous annotations on my census transcriptions made from personal > observations. In fact, for my 1840 census, I devised a completely different > method > of showing the various age groupings. I used letters of the alphabet. > > > > > > I'm aware of the provision that "protects the creative expression......does > > > not protect the labor of the author....." but census data is handwritten; am > > > I not being creative by putting the data into printed form? Maybe not! > > > > No, you are not. It is a (mostly) straightforward copy, and even if it > involves some >judgement on your part (e.g. as to the spelling), you are still > trying to make an >accurate reproduction. > > I believe I am and nothing will change that. I fail to see how one can say it's > a > reproduction--that's completely inaccurate. A reproduction is a copy of the > actual > census record--for example, making a copy of a census page from a microfilm > reader/printer. But a transcription is not a reproduction. > > > > > Think of it this way: compare how much work went into creating that table in > the first place, and compare it to the work you put into copying it. Generally > there is no comparison. > > Can't disagree with that, if you are referring to when the census taker > originally > wrote the data in. Can't see any relevance here though. > > > > Scott > > > > ==== COPYRIGHT Mailing List ==== > > Check out the new communities at RootsWeb > > http://www.communities.rootsweb.com/ > > > > ============================== > > Visit Ancestry.com for a FREE 14-Day Trial and enjoy access to the #1 > > Source for Family History Online. Go to: > > http://www.ancestry.com/subscribe/subscribetrial1y.asp?sourcecode=F11HB > > > ==== COPYRIGHT Mailing List ==== > Support RootsWeb - http://www.rootsweb.com/rootsweb/how-to-subscribe.html > > ============================== > Search more than 150 million free records at RootsWeb! > http://searches.rootsweb.com/ >