I won't kick anyone off for expressing an opinon. An obituary is public domain if it is not in a copyrighted paper, or being pulled from a compilation that someone else as prepared for publication in a book format. When public domain records are extracted and compiled in a book format, the information in that book is copyrighted. The person having done the extraction and compliation has provided a value added service by providing the information in that format. The work is then protected. That is how Huxford genealogical society and Huxford heirs are able to maintain the copyrights on the obituary and marriage records he extracted from the newspapers during his lifetime. Or Brent Holcomb or Carolina Moore or any of the other researchers of public records who publish extracts of the records can coyright their efforts. If a person went to the original records and pull the information out for themselves and share that information, it is copyrighted to the researcher. That person is sharing their work time and research. Taken broadly, any message that a person posts on the various boards is their information and under their copyright. In an Ideal world we would all check with the original sender before forwarding a message to another board or person. Deborah Byrd