Re: GNU Free Database License

[Alfred M. Szmidt]

   > A dictionary requires as much work as a phone book and isn't a
   > very creative process, now, an encyclopedia, that would be
   > another subject.

   The amount of work isn't important, it's about the creativity.

I was responding to this part, where you imply that the amount of work
is what matters:

| Making a list of words with definitions is a lot of work.  So a
| dictionary is certain protected by copyright.

   Writing all those definitions in the dictionary requires
   creativity, so you get copyright on the dictionary.

It is about as creative as listing phone numbers and names, or
producing a list of genomes.  We disagree that a dictionary can be
copyrighted, I don't consider it a very creative processes at all.  I
don't have any references, but I seem to recall that only the
"presentation" of a dictionary can be copyrighted, which is just about
the only creative work involved in producing a dictionary.  Same deal
with a phone book, really.

Cheers.