RE: RE: How Many Trees? (WAS: URGENT: Immediate ethical issue)

[Janice Gelb <janice -dot- gelb -at- sun -dot- com>]

Gillespie, Stephen (Contractor) wrote:
>Wow, Gene, maybe we need to consult a lawyer because that's a really
>strange way of looking at it - are not the results of independent
>research and their published expression the same as if I wrote the
>Great American Novel? - meaning, both would be MY copyrightable
>property?
>

Well, everyone else has tried to explain this in a
way you can understand. I guess I'll give it a try
too.

The sentence "There are 10,380 pine trees in the Techwhirl
Forest" is not copyrightable. It is a fact that anyone
could express without reference to your work.

The sentence "In the majestic Techwhirl Forest one
magnificent spring day, I counted 10,380 trees
whispering in the breeze" is copyrightable because
it is a unique expression of that fact.

-- Janice


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