Joyce > Well, you'all know as well as I do that 95% of the time when you > retrieve > data from someone it isn't documented data. I think you are being generous here. Just based on Ancestry Family Trees I suspect that the percentage of folks who recognize that this something that should be done is far less than 5%. > If we're going to be required to retrace somebody else's data we > may as well > start from scratch and do the work ourselves....which is usually > easier. Well, yes, of course. Though I don't think its easier to simply start from scratch. Ultimately all genealogy has to be both verified and validated----you have to check (verify) where your source says they found something--- just to be sure that they got it right; then you have to show that its also true (validate). Not easy to do when there's so many things that have to be checked. But it is easier if you have a good family history to start with, and retraceing someone elses steps may actually be easier to do. (Probably not as much fun, though.) For myself, I often use the data I find on the web to sketch things in. A lot of things remain only in the sketched in state. If the way someone says something seems to be particularly effective I'll quote them (small amounts), and source them. Often I'll provisionally accept their conclusions, but in that case I insert the word "fide" before the citation. In otherwords, I'm temporarily taking their word for it. On the other hand, if its just data, not narrative, and they provide no source, there's not much point in citing them as the source of the data. I can use their information as a clue in looking where to look for the underlying documentation, but their own work (even though I got the data itself from them) has no real intrinsic value except as a pointer. Its a work in progress, and when I find the ultimate basis for the information in a primary document, that's what I will cite. > I've state before and I'll state again....we can copyright until > He__ freezes over but if we don't have the means to legally back up > said > copyright, then what use is it. I realize that some of you here > are very > knowledgeable about copyright issues but most of us aren't. That's always the problem with a legal system. There are no free rides. Unless you are willing to go through the legal process, you don't really have much option. Some battles can be one, and if the return is worth the effort, should be fought. But usually its not worth the effort. Ultimately, the truth is that few of us write so well and cogently that our words are really worth the effort to protect. Bill