Just to add another point here.....this guy's website has "Copyright" all over it! So, had he left my "data files", which he did NOT attribute to ME, but rather to my e-mail address, just the e-mails with the explanations of the data files had my name attached....would he then have held a copyright over my formatting? It was NOT a standardized form, such as a GedCom, but rather a word doc, formatted by me, with various notes throughout. One fear that I had, was that if I wanted to post MY OWN WORK online, it would appear that I was the one stealing copyrighted info, and would be difficult to prove otherw ise!! And since "Fair Use" has been mentioned a couple of times, I have another question....HOW MUCH text falls under Fair Use? In his response, he said that, while he DID take all of my material down, he didn't have to, because, in his opinion, it was not enough to have violated Fair Use. He did use the e-mails in their entirety, and the SMALLEST one would have been larger than this e-mail that I am currently sending to the list!!! I was under the impression that Fair Use only governed a line or two....can it be FAR MORE than that???? THANKS! Joan A. In a message dated 7/21/2006 11:00:19 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time, JYoung6180@aol.com writes: I took it to mean that she didn't want him using her data -- just the data, not the quotes, and attributing it to her. The point is Joan has no control over data that is in the public domain--once she has given that info to anyone they can use it within their own content as their own conclusions. She just doesn't want it attributed to her. She can put her own data in her own words online herself and have it say just what she wants and nothing more. It is always better to have control of your own data under your own name. Joan

Fair Use is deliberately not well defined and there are no specific amount of words, lines, etc. that constitutes Fair Use. Here's what the Copyright Office says: http://www.copyright.gov/fls/fl102.html If he posted everything you sent to him, including personal emails, he went way beyond Fair Use. Kathi Jones-Hudson MD Tombstone Transcription Project Manager http://www.rootsweb.com/~cemetery/maryland/maryland.html __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com

At 11:31 AM 7/22/2006, Kathi Jones-Hudson wrote: >Fair Use is deliberately not well defined and there >are no specific amount of words, lines, etc. that >constitutes Fair Use. > >Here's what the Copyright Office says: >http://www.copyright.gov/fls/fl102.html > >If he posted everything you sent to him, including >personal emails, he went way beyond Fair Use. Kathie, Not necessarily. It depends on whether the personal emails contained original intellectual concepts expressed in original words. Presenting/sharing factual data in a text format MAY be original, but often is not. A sentence such as John Veeblefester was born in 1840 and enlisted in the Confederate Army, Company A, 1st Mounted Virginia Calvary August 21, 1863 is nothing but facts. There is nothing orignal about the sentence and it contains nothing that can be copyrighted. Whole pages can be written containing nothing but facts, or only a very few original concepts. They can thus be copied verbatim and "fair use" is not an issue since they were (by and large) not copyrightable to begin with :) Pat

Pat: I wasn't talking about her data but her personal emails to him ... his publication of them as a whole exceeds Fair Use. Forwarding my email to this list elsewhere as a whole without my consent would exceed Fair Use and be of violation of my copyright on my email. It was my understanding that he published her emails in their entirety. Data of course is a different story. Bottom line on this for researchers be careful of what you share until you know someone really well unless you want to see it published all over the place, with or without "credit", correct or not. Kathi Jones-Hudson MD Tombstone Transcription Project Manager http://www.rootsweb.com/~cemetery/maryland/maryland.html __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com