According to MY understanding of Copyright - I am not a lawyer nor do I play one on TV - they are copyrighting the format, not the material. Laws changed a few years ago on copyright. Copyright no longer requires filling out forms - the act of creation gives the creator copy rights. Therefore - depending on WHEN the microfilm was created - Sidney Historical Society may or may not have copy rights on their microfilm. Of course I could be wrong.... Mike -----Original Message----- From: A LISTSERV list for discussions pertaining to New York State history. [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of mike engle Sent: Tuesday, March 11, 2003 2:56 PM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: Microfilm copywrites (newspapers) Hello list, I have a question I hope someone can answer. I was at SUNY Oneonta, and they had the Cooperstown, NY newspaper on microfilm, and I ran into something I have never seen before. At the begining, the microfilm was copywrited by the NYS Historical Society. Basicly saying that you can't make copies FROM that microfilm and publish it, without consent from the NYSHS. Now my question is this. I've never seen this copywrite notice on any other microfilm. For example. the Sidney, NY historical society has their newspapers on microfilm, without a copywrite notice. Does this mean that the Sidney microfilm is not copywrited by their historical society? Best Regards Mike Engle _________________________________________________________________ MSN 8 with e-mail virus protection service: 2 months FREE* http://join.msn.com/?page=features/virus