--- nelhatch <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> And isn't the bottom line the simple fact that none
> of us hold copyright to
> the names, dates, and places found in public
> records? We would be protected
> against someone plagairizing our work in its
> entirety (including
> analytic/personal notes, etc) but no one can be
> legally protected from
> someone using public record data no matter how many
> years of research on
> your part.>>>

This is only partly true.  We are also protected when
we compile information. The fact that I figured out
that "Joe Doe is the son of John Doe", is protected,
even if I used court records to prove it. The court
record information isn't protected, but my arrangement
of it is. It would be harder to prove that someone
didn't come up with this themselves, unless I
copyright my work. I think part of the difference here
is integrity vs. what might be legal use.

Even though I "gifted"  my work to Familytreemaker,  I
did it with the intention of sharing with cousins.
When I called them to complain about a copyright
notice that I happened to see,  I was assured that my
work would never be sold. Period.

I don't worry about cousins or hobbyists plagiarizing
my work. Good researchers will see their work for what
it is.  I do worry about the commercial sale of my
work.

I don't see any way they can get these glitches out.
My work from 20 years ago isn't worth a dime. I had a
computer glitch that caused my NJ John Camp family to
merge with my VA Camps. It was an accident!  Ancestry
is now connecting two completely separate families and
selling it. [And I hear this big booming voice from
the heavens saying, "It is a *Permanent*  Record!"]

Langdon Hagen-Long

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