[Foundation-l] copyright question about data

Mon Apr 11 21:42:43 UTC 2005

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