On Monday, November 27, 2000, Peter Hirtle <[email protected]> wrote: > Copyright only protects original expression, not ideas. The Copyright > Office flyer on this states: "Mere listings of ingredients as in recipes, > formulas, compounds or prescriptions are not subject to copyright > protection. However, where a recipe or formula is accompanied by > substantial literary expression in the form of an explanation or > directions, or when there is a combination of recipes, as in a cookbook, > there may be a basis for copyright protection" What I said! > 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 would. S R C A cott obert ranston nderson [email protected]