Peter wrote: >If I were to paraphrase this for genealogists, I might say "Mere listings >of people and their vital statistics as found in census and vital records >are not subject to copyright protection. When the listing is accompanied >by substantial literary expression in the form of an explanation or >analysis, there may be a basis for copyright protection." I wonder if the >Copyright Office would agree with me? I'm currently working on a compilation of early tax lists for a particular county. Included are recently discovered documents and long-known, never-published lists. Let me try out several scenarios and ask your opinions. 1. I simply publish typeset copies of the extant lists. This will take several hundred pages and include several indexes. Included are a complicated slave index that is particularly unique to this publication. Is it protected by copyright laws? 2. As above, but I add a detailed forward pertaining to the people who lived in the county during the period as well as an explanation of tax laws, county history & geography, etc. Is this "more protected"? 3. As above, plus I add notes pertaining to each family, drawing heavily from county court records. This would purely be my own original compilation. Does the annotation serve to make the entire project copyright-able? Are my rights as the compiler better protected? This project has taken years. While I don't expect to make money on it, I do not want my effort wasted by some person who scans the whole thing and puts it on the web. Opinions please? Libbie Griffin