>>>>> "walter" == walter harms <wharms@bfs.de> writes:

 walter> hgi list, i was following these thread ..  so far i
 walter> understand is the tz database a compiled list and not
 walter> protected.  So noone would be hurt if Ado add something like
 walter> "this list is compiled from public source"

 walter> or from gfdl:

 walter> " Copyright (C) <year> <your name>.  Permission is granted to
 walter> copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms
 walter> of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.2 or any
 walter> later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with
 walter> no Invariant Sections, no Front-Cover Texts, and no
 walter> Back-Cover Texts.  A copy of the license is included in the
 walter> section entitled "GNU Free Documentation License".  "

 walter> note: i do not suggest to make this gfdl. it is only an
 walter> example how they describe there licence inside a document.

Can we get an authoritative answer please?

GFDL is something COMPLETELY different from "public domain".  If one
is right then the other is wrong.

And yes, the list is compiled from public source, but that doesn't
directly answer the question of the copyright on the resulting work.
It might not qualify in any case in the USA under the "sweat of the
brow" rule (Feist v. Rural,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._Copyright_law#Compilations_and_the_sweat_of_the_brow_doctrine).
But if it's a work of the USA and thereby in the public domain, that's
an easier route.

   paul