i think you miss the point of the question. it's not about "owning" surnames(that has never been an issue) it's about owning my labor. If I spend hundreds of hours compiling them over 17 months does a former listmember, contrary to my clear instructions, have the right to take my work(compilations-cemetery, church records or any other- are copyright protected, got nothing to do with ownership of the "surnames") and post them to his website. his website is an ego-driven effort to get website awards. My wife who doesn't work for broderbund but is an attorney and has confirmed a big "no". Actually it was a rhetorical question. If you've looked at the surnames list it is no small amount of work. why should someone, without my permission take my work to fatten up the content of their page? for the purpose of self-promotion? and after using my work as the foundation the webpage owner has the audacity to put an "all rights reserved" copyright statement on his borrowed work. This borrower was told by me to remove "my work: from his page and was also aske by some listmembers to remove their surnames email addresses etc. He has not done it. Further since he borrows the work, he never edits it or corrects it. so the point is....? But if your answer is really what you believe then why don't you do all the surnames list work in the future and tell me when its ready to post to the PDL webpage? At least I won't just take it from you. rod ==== PENNA-DUTCH Mailing List ==== New? Looking for a quick connection? Visit the surnames list associated with this mail list at http://members.aol.com/PennaDutch/pdlsurnames.html