Dear TGF Listers, Thank you so much for your responses to my query of Jan 30th, “When is a phrase copyrighted?”. Your responses were very enlightening. I realized I was beating myself up over something that was not a problem after all. First, thanks Philip. I now see I need to understand the difference between copyright and trademark. One more thing to learn! Elizabeth, Thanks for your insights. I am not a professional nor planning to be but strive only to attain the quality and attributes of a professional. I have been paid twice for an all-day lecture; otherwise, all of my presentations are done for my society or the local family history center. You also helped me understand what I am trying to present. I love your explanation of “The 5 Hottest Ideas in Genealogical Research....”; You gave me my “AHA” moment. That is precisely what I am doing! My presentation is, “How to Become a Better Genealogist” and I am sharing with my society what I am doing to better my research skills and helping them to learn along with me. (I began my January presentation with this opening: “My name is Margie and I am a name gatherer!”) I am following the suggestions found in Angela McGhie’s Adventures in Genealogy Education blog entry of Jun 6th: “Elizabeth Shown Mills Ten-point Study Blueprint”. This was my inspiration for my own learning and the basis for sharing with my society. Dee, your posts show how passionate you are about professional genealogy. My goal is to learn from all of you and incorporate what I am learning into my own research and then pass that experience along to my society members. I and not trying to steal anything from any of you but rather learning, using, digesting, incorporating and then sharing what I learn so others will also strive to higher standards in their genealogical research. Thomas, thanks for your input; you kept me from cancelling my next presentation because I didn’t think I was being “original” enough. Like you, I listen, read, watch tons of webinars, search out info online, in magazines, anywhere someone is presenting good methods and principles I am not familiar with. I then digest what has been presented, incorporate what I have learned into my own personal research, and, finally, share what I have learned with others. Learning is a process (as you all know) and teaching what I learn is the best way for me to really understand and incorporate these new ideas into my own work. Like you, “I let the work of others inspire me.” And lastly, Melissa, THANK YOU! I don’t know what an OP is, but I believe you are referring to me. I am the education chair for our small local society--abt 125 members with less than 40 attending general meetings. I introduced the position when I was president and then quickly accepted the chairmanship when my term ended. I love teaching; I want people to understand and practice good genealogical research principles. I have easily presented well over 100 talks; all of them original ideas based on my own experiences coupled with ideas gleaned as described above. This is the first presentation where I have used so many quotes from others. But, as explained above, it is because I am outlining the path I have laid for myself in my quest to be a better genealogist. If I can get just one person to start planning their research, recording their positive and negative search results, reading NGSQ or taking time to learn better methodology instead of finding just one more name, then I have done my job. Thanks to you all who are helping me become a better genealogist. And, because of you and my new goals, I am attending APG’s PMC next month. I can hardly wait! Margie in Washington State