A complete discussion of copyright law is beyond our purpose here at “Tip of the Day,” but suffice it to say that a genealogical fact cannot be copyrighted. Your cousin in Arizona cannot copyright the fact that “John Smith was born in Maryland in 1783.”<\/p>\n
What he can copyright is a report he compiled showing why that year of birth is correct. The report he would be within his rights to lay copyright claim to.<\/p>\n
Of course, if he spent years uncovering a fact and you use that fact in a compilation, it might be nice to give him credit for “finding” that fact. If you don’t, he might not share anything with you again!<\/p>\n