Hi All, Copyrights protect the way that something is expressed. It does not protect basic information, concepts, ideas, etc. I have never seen any of GG's booklets, so I don't know if he uses a copyright notice. The notice consists of three parts: the word "Copyright" or the "C" in the circle, the name of the author, and the year in which the work was first created. For example, "Copyright GG 1999". As Ray points out, the coding system was created and developed by Chrysler, not GG. It was on the window stickers, on the vehicle data or fender tag, and it was in the ordering materials that the dealers used to order a vehicle with the desired options. Maybe the codes were in other places as well. I don't ever remember seeing any copyright notice of Chrysler on the window stickers. Certainly, it doesn't appear on the vehicle data or fender tag. Don't know about the dealer's ordering materials. Most of the codes were used for many years, such as "D23" for a certain type of transmission in the late 1960s, etc. However, some of the paint codes changed from year to year as new colors were introduced and then discontinued the following year. I wouldn't encourage copying of GG's booklets or other materials, especially if they contain a copyright notice. Right or wrong, it could take years of expensive litigation to resolve. About 15 years ago, there was a lot of litigation over whether the compilations of telephone numbers contained in telephone books were copyrightable. I believe that the final outcome was that the telephone books were not copyrightable because it was simply a compilation of information available in the public domain, i.e., a lack of authorship or creativeness. However, other information commonly put into the telephone books, such as the cover artwork, the advertisements in the yellow pages, etc., probably is protectible through copyright law. Bottom line: if you are going to copy, be careful what it is that you are copying. However, anyone can create their own compilation of the Chrysler codes, just as GG did, but don't copy or start with GG's materials if they bear any copyright notice. At this time, I doubt that Chrysler cares about the information, and they probably never copyrighted it anyway. If they still have any enforceable rights in the coding information, I would expect that they would have told GG to stop a long time ago! Best regards, Jim -----Original Message----- From: hurst300@xxxx [mailto:hurst300@xxxx] Sent: Thursday, November 22, 2001 11:16 PM To: moparted Cc: Chrysler300@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: Re: [Chrysler300] VIN De-coder,1960 Chrysler 1960.1965. Hi All; I don't think copyright comes into play here, it's not his original work. He has copied the info from Chrysler info. It's their original work. At best, you might have to rearrange the info so it's not a direct copy. Pete Fitch would know for sure. This may be a nice project for our club, since GG dosen't go back before '62. We have many in the club who can decode various years buildsheets. See ya in RI, don't forget! Ray Jones To send a message to this group, send an email to: Chrysler300@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx For list server instructions, go to http://www.chrysler300club.com/yahoolist/inst.htm To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: Chrysler300-unsubscribe@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/