Copyright implicitly implies publication. Without distribution there is no publication. It is a little like patent law which prevents you from holding part of a patent as a "trade secret". You can't do that or the patent is invalid. Patents require full disclosure of the methodology involved. Similarly if the information is not made available to the public whether it be free or for a charge there can be no copyright. If it once was available then became unavailable the situation would be different. But you can't write a book and hide it in the closet and claim copyright on it. Bill ----- Original Message ----- From: <TooFem@aol.com> To: <GAGEN-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Friday, March 28, 2003 10:11 AM Subject: Re: [GAGEN] I need advice > Dot Jones <A HREF="http://www.ci.thomson.ga.us/County/Minutes/commission/12-04-02.htm">sp oke</A> before the McDuffie County Board of Commissioners on 4 Dec > 2002 - while her address is not in the online minutes (that I can find) if > the meetings are handled normally - her address will be in the minutes. > > And - one of your pages has her addy - I looked it up and it is listed as > James Alva Jones in Thomson > > Going to the August Chronicle sounds like a great idea - but not to "expose" > the foundation. Perhaps a better way to approach this would be contacting > them to run an article on your County site (free publicity) - if/when someone > shows interest in doing so - you can work a gentle complaint into the > interview. > > It humors me that Mrs. Jones is the head of the McDuffie Historical Society > (your dilemma is the prime example of this being a hysterical society) and > the Wrightsboro Foundation) and has her thumb on all of the research. > > The other way is for you to become involved with the Foundation - but come in > through the back door - not via Mrs. Jones. > > And lastly, it is privately held - not much you can do to force the situation > except to get the word out - but you are going to have to walk a very thin > rope. > > I don't know if this is "legal" on our pages but you might consider doing > this: Write Mrs. Jones a formal request - not mentioning your prior > conversation..... enclose a self-addressed, stamped envelope. If she says > the same thing in her letter back to you (and being a southern woman of that > certain age she will write back) I would then put something on my page that > lists the documents, records, etc. held by Wrightsboro Foundation and then > say unfortunately these records are not available - link it to an image of > her letter. > > After you have her letter, you can write the organization that has made this > a Historical Landmark - and tell them how concerned you are that the public > doesn't have access to the records - I would get the guy who called her to > write a letter too - and inclose it with yours. > > This brings us back to the copyright laws - are privately held public > documents under copyright laws. Email the Ga Archives and find out! > > MK Harrison > <A HREF="http://mkharrison.com">mkharrison.com</A> > <A HREF="http://www.rootsweb.com/~gabarrow/">Barrow County, GA</A> > <A HREF="http://www.ancestry.com/landing/homelandsweeps2/landing2.html?SourceCo de=3913&iid=3913%3A+Sweepstakes+1">Ancestry.com</A> > I don't know what kind of weapons will be used in the third world war, > assuming there will be a third world war. But I can tell you what the fourth > world war will be fought with - stone clubs. -Albert Einstein > > > ==== GAGEN Mailing List ==== > Confused about Copyrights??? Review USGenWeb's policy on copyrights at: > http://www.usgenweb.org/volunteers/copyright.html >

> Copyright implicitly implies publication. Without distribution there > is no publication. That may have been the case, however that is no longer true. As soon as something is written, it is copyrighted. There is no need for actual publication. Say a poet jots down on a napkin a poem, as soon as it's put to the napkin, it is copyrighted. From: http://www.copyright.gov/faq.html#q2 * When is my work protected? Your work is under copyright protection the moment it is created and fixed in a tangible form so that it is perceptible either directly or with the aid of a machine or device. HTH Derek Nichols Echols County