Welcome Amy and thank you for a very informative explanation of the LDS
copyright. This is very helpful.
Liz Robertson
----- Original Message -----
From: "Amy Hedrick" <amylyn(a)btconline.net>
To: <GAGEN-L(a)rootsweb.com>
Sent: Sunday, May 25, 2003 5:52 PM
Subject: Re: [GAGEN] LDS does not hold the copyrights because they film
I have yet to be introduced or welcomed by this group, so you may not know
who I am.
My name is Amy Hedrick and I am the new CC for Glynn County, I have taken
over for Susan Peterson.
On the copyright issue, I have talked to the national copyright law offices
a few months ago when I made a CD of the Brunswick City Directories and they
said that you can use anything that is of a public record, that includes
court records, cemetery transcriptions, telephone books, etc.
However, if someone puts it together in, lets say microfilm, you can not
copy that microfilm and sell it as your own but you can extract the info and
use it as your own because only the film is copyrighted not the info on it
(if it is of a public record).
My CD that I made, can not be copyrighted, only the format it is in and it
is automatically copyrighted, I do not have to put copyright notice on it.
You can not take my CD and copy it exactly and sell it as your own or upload
it to the internet, that would be infringing on my rights. By you can take
those images, save them in a different format, or use my CD and transcribe
those books, and not give me credit because it is public information.
Everything you publish is automatically copyrighted even photographs you
take. In order to get a legal copyright you have to pay for it, and it has
to be for something that is an original work like a photograph, or a history
book, or novel, or song, etc.
Many of these people who are putting together indexes and cemetery books and
selling them are under the misconception that other people can not copy them
without their permission. In one sense they are right, but if you change
the format you can very well do what you want with it, there is no
copyright.
Now, if you are directly related to the people in your cemetery book or
family history book, the public records you extracted are copyrighted within
your publication and can not be used without your permission, but good luck
proving someone took it from your book.
Anyone can go to a cemetery and get the info off of the stones, so if
someone makes a book, you can take the info from it also, as long as the
author of the book isn't related to the people in it.
So you can use LDS public record microfilms as long as you don't put a
direct image of it online without their permission, and you don't make
copies of it and sell it. You can extract the information and do what you
want with it, how will they know you got it from their microfilm and not the
courthouse and again they can't copyright the information, the national
copyright law offices say so.
Now their publications, or other books that they have on microfilm are
copyrighted, by them, and by the original publisher. You can not use this
information as public info without permission.
The original publisher gave LDS permission to microfilm and sell their
books, and books written before 1923 are no longer under copyright law so
LDS can microfilm them and sell them without permission, and you can take
info from them without permission, you just can't use the actual images from
the microfilm or copy the microfilm and sell it as your own.
Is everyone confused now?
Amy Hedrick
----- Original Message -----
From: "Jim & Gaila" <gaila(a)merrington.net>
To: <GAGEN-L(a)rootsweb.com>
Sent: Sunday, May 25, 2003 5:08 PM
Subject: Fw: [GAGEN] LDS does not hold the copyrights because they film
I agree Margie, wouldn't it seem that the LDS is talking more about
their
"published" works - personal memoirs and family histories
as well as
published books more than the Census or public records materials such as
land deeds?
Best regards,
Gaila
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "margie" <margie(a)majorinternet.net>
> To: <GAGEN-L(a)rootsweb.com>
> Sent: Monday, May 26, 2003 3:58 AM
> Subject: [GAGEN] LDS does not hold the copyrights because they film
>
>
> > LDS does not hold the copyrights to public records.
> >
> > Just because the LDS filmed the data does not give them any
copyrights.
> These microfilm are exact copies of the files in the court
records or
other
> official records.
> >
> > For example. North Carolina's old county records are at their state
> archives. If LDS is the agency that microfilmed these records they
> certainly don't hold copyrights to them.
> >
> > Margie
>
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