At 01:20 PM 6/19/00 -0500, [email protected] wrote: >Mr Singer says, "Plagiarists, please note, this site is copyrighted >(lists and compilations are copyrightable under Title 17, USC, Chapter 1, >Section 103(a)). The author of this site will prosecute any plagiarism to >the fullest extent of the law." Plagiarism isn't illegal except under some very strict codes that deal with the scientific world and their dealings with the government. Plagiarism is failure to properly cite sources. In many instances, compilations DO NOT meet the criteria of originality necesssary for copyright protection. Just because of someone put in a lot of work on a list or compilation does not mean it gets protected. That "sweat of the brow" concept was tossed out by the Supreme Court in 1991 in the Feist vs. Rural Telephone decision. http://www.cswnet.com/~sbooks/genealogy/copyright/Creation/feist/feist.htm According to Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, "The primary objective of copyright is not to reward the labor of authors, but '[t]o promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts.'" Authors are assured, by copyright, to the right to use and copy their original expression. However, Copyright is also intended to encourage others to build freely upon the ideas and information found in other works. In most fields of research, whether it be academic, commercial, or hobby, the growth of knowledge is very dependent upon the efforts of other researchers. This very much includes genealogy. http://www.cswnet.com/~sbooks/genealogy/copyright/copyright.htm Mike Goad Cousins - A Chart For Determining Relationships http://www.cswnet.com/~sbooks/genealogy/cousins/cousins.htm Using General Purpose Search Engines for Genealogy http://www.cswnet.com/~sbooks/genealogy/html/search.html Comparison of Four Search Engines for Genealogy http://www.cswnet.com/~sbooks/genealogy/html/search_too.htm Links to On-Line Resources http://www.cswnet.com/~sbooks/genealogy/html/resources.htm Maps and Mapping Links http://www.cswnet.com/~sbooks/genealogy/Resource_Links/Maps__etc/maps__etc.htm and more at our Genealogy homepage http://www.cswnet.com/~sbooks/genealogy/index.htm