> I disagree about that--it's creative and unique to decipher some of the > census handwriting! :) This is no more creative than translating a book into a foreign language, which at best is considered a "derivative work": A "derivative work" is a work based upon one or more preexisting works, such as a translation, musical arrangement, dramatization, fictionalization, motion picture version, sound recording, art reproduction, abridgment, condensation, or any other form in which a work may be recast, transformed, or adapted. A work consisting of editorial revisions, annotations, elaborations, or other modifications, which, as a whole, represent an original work of authorship, is a "derivative work". <http://www.loc.gov/copyright/title17/92chap1.html#101> (b) The copyright in a compilation or derivative work extends only to the material contributed by the author of such work, as distinguished from the preexisting material employed in the work, and does not imply any exclusive right in the preexisting material. The copyright in such work is independent of, and does not affect or enlarge the scope, duration, ownership, or subsistence of, any copyright protection in the preexisting material. <http://www.loc.gov/copyright/title17/92chap1.html#103> Since you are merely interpreting "preexisting material", you don't gain copyright on it. S R C A cott obert ranston nderson [email protected]