Can OSI specify that public domain is open source?

[John Cowan]

Thorsten Glaser scripsit:

> So his actions would magically enable us to use the larger work?  What
> amount of work are we talking here?

Enough to cause a U.S. court to agree that a new work has come into
existence: that is, sweat of the brow is not enough, there must be
substantial originality.  That is why U.S. editions of public domain
books commonly have copyright notices saying "The special contents of
this edition are copyright" etc., meaning the preface or footnotes or
whatever the publisher may have added.

See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Threshold_of_originality , which
notes that merely alphabetizing a list or creating a blank form
containing just boxes for the required data, without more, is not U.S.
copyrightable.

-- 
Well, I have news for our current leaders       John Cowan
and the leaders of tomorrow: the Bill of        cowan at ccil.org
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only during times of peace and prosperity.
We don't just push it to the side when the going gets tough.  --Molly Ivins