One of the biggest items of discussion since I joined usgw years ago. Another issue that
is similar is 'who owns the data?' As I understand it, registration is not
required unless you are prepared to take someone to court if they use something you wrote
without your permission. In other words, you can copyright it but you can't do
anything legally unless you register. Not registering still allows you to copyright and I
'think' usgw says a cc must copyright. Now if you have to go to court, will usgw
help you in the legal arena because it is their requirement? So does it really really mean
anything?
mike
---- Martha A Crosley Graham via <mngen(a)rootsweb.com> wrote:
=============
Good Morning,
In reading the latest posts on State & County Requirements, I had to ask
myself a couple of questions.
What do I really know about copyright laws and WebSites?
The answers are confusing at best, but a search reveals that in order
for a website to be copyrighted or for its contents to be copyrighted,
applications and fees must be paid before a copyright is issued.
Fees run from $35.00 to $55.00.
http://copyright.gov/help/faq/faq-register.html#register
Ok, so there are fees, applications, etc to be paid and filled out.
Have I done this for my many websites? _No_.
Therefore, I do not have the right to display a copyright on any of my
sites, County or State.
Unless there is such a thing as a 'blanket copyright' issued to the US
GenWeb Project for each and every County and State or each one of us
applied for and received a copyright for our Counties, we do not have
the right to display a copyright.
Martha A Crosley Graham
CC: Blue Earth County, MN
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