h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Hi there, the big bad Blues Shark told me that you know all!
I'm thinking of doing a guide about The Illonois Enema Bandit (a bizzare tale of crime and water related offences!)

The trouble is that hardly any information exists about this guy.
I have tracked down some newspaper reports from '75, a quote from an ex FBI agent and some eyewitness accounts.
He is the subject of a Frank Zappa song, so I have lyrics and some quotes from Zappa.
I can piece together how he worked and what he did but all the above info comes from the 'net.

I've read guidelines for copyright but can't decide if I will be infringing them.

What if I credited every news agency I have got info from?

Would this cover my ass?

Any advice would be most welcome.

cheers

Hi superdogmonkey,

No one can 'own' facts, only the way they're presented, so as long as you write the entry in your own words you shouldn't have any problems with copyright. I'm afraid I know less than nothing about the subject you're researching. A search on the net produced a number of sites discussing the song 'The Legend Of The Illinois Enema Bandit' (note the spelling, by the way - don't know if this is why you've not found much on it).

One suggestion that comes to mind is doing an entry about the song itself (which has been done before). You could then bulk the entry up with info on Zappa, and on the true-life case that inspired the song without necessarily going into too much detail. Cheating, perhaps, but it's one way to look at the problem

Jims