You most certainly can copyright any material that you personally write whether or not someone broadcasts it all over the web. But, remember, FACTS CAN NOT BE COPYRIGHTED. There are copyright violations all over the web and some have been successfully pursued in court. There are VERY CLEAR RULES on the ROOTSWEB website. If you did not PERSONALLY write something or obtain permission from the writer to reproduce it...it is a violation of Federal copyright law. I known nothing about the present problem, or who may be at fault, but it really needs to be handled between the involved parties privately, not on this list. If you all start this "mess" up I may have to send y'all several thousand pages of "legalese" about United States and international copyright laws...HA! Now that's a threat! Elizabeth -----Original Message----- From: Billy Huffman [mailto:huffmanjr@charter.net] Sent: Friday, October 11, 2002 12:24 AM To: WILLIS-L@rootsweb.com Subject: Re: A possible thief You cannot copyright something that is all over the internet such as relationship charts sorry about your luck ----- Original Message ----- From: Etta Newton To: WILLIS-L@rootsweb.com Sent: Thursday, October 10, 2002 9:55 PM Subject: Re: A possible thief Can we take this stuff off the list. If someone has a problem, send the e-mail directly to that person and not clog up the list and the archives with all this personal stuff. ----- Original Message ----- From: John Sent: Thursday, October 10, 2002 9:07 PM To: WILLIS-L@rootsweb.com Subject: Re: A possible thief Thank you Earl. That's a very good suggestion. The letter is aimed at Randy Willis, whose site is at www.randywillis.org/. Unless he has moved it, he has my material at http://www.randywillis.org/relationship.html under his own name as if he created it. He conveniently left off the copyright notice at the end. My original material is at http://wymple.gs.net/~longstrt/consangu.html Thanks for your suggestion, John New Orleans ------------------------ Earl Willis wrote: > > Since this list is filled with Mr. Willis'....it might be a good idea John > if you specify to whom your charges are leveled. > earl m. willis > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "John" <longstrt@gs.net> > To: <WILLIS-L@rootsweb.com> > Sent: Thursday, October 10, 2002 12:16 PM > Subject: A possible thief > > > Dear Mr. Willis, > > > > Recently I chastised you for trying to steal my file "Consanguinity" > > (http://wymple.gs.net/~longstrt/consangu.html) and pass it off as your > > own creation. > > > > I'm glad to see that you have removed the title from the main page of > > your website and I am pleased that you like it so much that you would > > like to claim credit for it. > > > > However, I have just checked your site and find that you have merely > > hidden it away there as "relationship" with your own name blazoned > > across the top, as if it were something of your own doing. You and > > I both know that you had absolutely nothing at all to do with any > > part of it. > > > > Willis is an old an honorable family and we look down on those who would > > practice perfidy. Especially any who would like to claim kin with us. > > > > I have looked at the available record of Joseph Willis, the Negro slave > > from whom you claim descent, and who my ancestor, John Willis, set free. > > Nowhere do I find even a smudge on his character, certainly not that of > > "thief". > > > > You are not a thief are you Mr. Willis? Then don't act like one. > > Remove completely, once and for all, any remnant of my file > > "Consanguinity" > > from your website. As clearly indicated, the file is copyrighted and > > you have no > > right to it whatsoever. > > > > You also owe an apology to the family at large for such a breach of > > faith. > > > > As with everyone on the Internet, you are free to link to the site as > > often as > > you like. Nonetheless, it is not yours. You do not have permission to > > copy the file onto your site and try to claim it as your own. You are > > wrong > > in trying to do so. > > > > Regards, > > John Rhymes > > New Orleans > > ============================== To join Ancestry.com and access our 1.2 billion online genealogy records, go to: http://www.ancestry.com/rd/redir.asp?targetid=571&sourceid=1237Get more from the Web. FREE MSN Explorer download : http://explorer.msn.com ============================== To join Ancestry.com and access our 1.2 billion online genealogy records, go to: http://www.ancestry.com/rd/redir.asp?targetid=571&sourceid=1237 ============================== To join Ancestry.com and access our 1.2 billion online genealogy records, go to: http://www.ancestry.com/rd/redir.asp?targetid=571&sourceid=1237 --- Incoming mail is certified Virus Free. Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). 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