[Foundation-l] copyright question about data

[Cormac Lawler]

On Apr 11, 2005 11:42 PM, Jean-Baptiste Soufron <jbsoufron at gmail.com> wrote:
> As far as I understand it, these figures would be derivative works from
> public domain works... and their author would get copyright !
> 
> Cordialement,
> 
> Jean-Baptiste Soufron, Doctorant
> CERSA - CNRS, Paris 2
> http://soufron.free.fr
> 

Yes, that is right, the person/organisation that compiled the data
gets credit for their work - it is in the public domain but we still
need to reference the source. The same goes for graphs - a
representation of data is itself copyright, though you can make your
own graph from the data and refer to the source, ie. World Bank, UNDP
or whatever. Correct me if I am wrong..
Cormac


> Le 11 avr. 05, à 23:42, Edward Peschko a écrit :
> 
> > hey all,
> >
> > sorry if this is a FAQ - and I'm not sure if this question belongs in
> > this
> > mailing list - but since it concerns the legal side of the fence wrt
> > wikipedia contributions here goes:
> >
> > What's the legal status of data retrieved from non-public domain
> > sources?
> >
> > I understand that text that is retrieved from copyrighted materials is
> > copyrighted, but how about data and figures that deal with common
> > interest
> > topics? Can you really copyright the amount of wheat grown in a year in
> > bangladesh, or the number of accidents in a year on california roads?
> >
> >
> > And how about graphs? Is data that is extrapolated from graphs and
> > used in derivative graphs considered a 'creative work' of its own?
> >
> >
> > I'd think so, but I just want to be sure..
> >
> > Ed
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