<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN"> <html> <head> </head> <body bgcolor="#ffffff" text="#000000"> "In addition, Feist makes it clear that even if a database is protected by copyright law as an original work, this protection will not prevent an individual from extracting factual data from the database (short of copying the selection and arrangement of the database as a whole)". (Feist Publications, Inc. v. Rural Telephone Service Company, Inc., US Supreme Court.) From Bitlaw.com. There is no copyright protection for basic facts. 17 U.S.C. § 103(b). "Thus, a database of unprotectable works (such as basic facts) is protected only as a compilation. Since the underlying data is not protected, U.S. copyright law does not prevent the extraction of unprotected data from an otherwise protectable database. In the example of a database of presidential quotations, it would therefore not be a violation of copyright law to extract (copy) a quotation from George Washington from the database. On the other hand, it would be violation to copy the entire database, as long as the database met the <a href="http://www.bitlaw.com/copyright/database.html#Feist">Feist</a> originality and creativity requirements." Great cites, David. Isn't this the defining characteristic of this question? However, another question arises. Did you, upon ordering the book, make any agreement with the publisher not to divulge any of the book's contents. If you did, you can't. And, contract disputes are adjudicated by State. But in reading the cites it seems pretty clear that as long as you don't copy a page or portion of a page out of the book you can share individual price information gleaned from it. If you made a business out of disseminating pricing information out of their publication, it might be a little dicey. I don't know. And, I don't see any harm in it. The publisher gets free advertising for the book every time its title is mentioned. If you are a tech who is asked once or twice a year to give an estimate as a favor, what's the big deal? No one is going to compile a piano price list from the occasional price quote on this list. Caveat - I'm not a lawyer. I've had enough legal training to be dangerous. And, clearly I have too much time on my hands. Steve Brooks <pre class="moz-signature" cols="72">-- "The masses have never thirsted after truth. Whoever can supply them with illusions is easily their master; whoever attempts to destroy their illusions is always their victim." Gustave Le Bon from his 1896 book "The Crowd"</pre> </body> </html>