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. > 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. > 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. 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'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. 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. Scott