<<On Fri, 7 Oct 2011 09:24:26 +0100, "Clive D.W. Feather" <clive@davros.org> said:
Note that the statements in the various files saying they are public domain does *not* make them so.
To the extent that Arthur could otherwise have claimed copyright in those files, they are in the public domain because he edited them in the course of his work as an employee of the U.S. government. That is what those statements are there to clarify. IANAL, but it is hard to see how this lawsuit makes it past a motion for summary dismissal. But far stranger things have happened, so we'll all have to wait and see. Hopefully those businesses who have benefited from use of the database (and it's hard to name an IT company that hasn't benefited in some way) will rally around. -GAWollman