My question is: How does the copyright law work for "look-ups" in copyrighted material? Is there a violation if permission has not been granted for such work? ---------- > From: ANNEMEDLIN@aol.com > To: NCUNION-L@rootsweb.com > Subject: Re: [NCUNION-L] Re: NCUNION-D Digest V99 #51 > Date: Wednesday, March 17, 1999 4:55 AM > > In response to bmoore@perigee.net query about what "copyright" means: > Copyright laws make certain that no one can copy the work of another author > and call it their own. They must get permission from the author first, > sometimes paying that author a fee, and cite the work of the author in their > publication. Almost every type of communication is guarded by copyright laws, > the music field, there have been a number of lawsuits in recent years in this > field; the most recent act of plagiarism in books is a romance writer stealing > excerpts from Nora Roberts' books and getting caught doing it. Roberts took > her to court and won the case. After so many years, works become "public > domain," which means that anyone can use them without paying a fee. > Even works of art are sometimes copyrighted. If you have ever used a graphic > in anything, it is probably "copyright-free" and noted as such. Books carry a > notation on the flyleaf that "no part of this publication may be copied, etc., > with the express permission of the author," or something to that effect. > Clothing designers even have a copyright (for a short time only) on the > clothing they produce. Ideas and inventions also have copyrights, but these > are called "patents." This is done so someone cannot take your work and > profit by it. Only the author can profit by the exact same work. Hope this > explains enough. Anne