Hi Phyllis,
The newspapers hold copyright to anything they publish and that includes
obituaries. The best way to share the information is to abstract the information
including the name of the newspaper, date, page and column number, name of the
deceased, and deceased relatives and I usually include the cemetery where the
person is buried.
Darlene
In a message dated 2/20/2005 2:31:03 PM Central Standard Time,
phyllismillerfleming(a)starband.net writes:
Our local paper maintains they have exclusive rights to the obits they
publish, even when the obits are written by a family member and not
"composed" by the paper. My father died a few years ago, so I know that the
funeral home essentially writes the obits, but our paper says once they
publish them, the obits become their property.
Our newspaper obits are online so it would be a simple process to cut and
paste them onto our INGen website. But the newspaper won't allow that.
I could just post the link to the newspaper page, but then the names of the
relatives are not available through our INShelby search engine. So, I have
been cutting, pasting and then "summarizing" the obits I want to publish.
I'm so thankful when the obit is available through the Indianapolis paper or
the Rushville paper. There is a funeral home in Rushville that is also
online. Is that routine in other towns/cities?
Thanks for letting me vent.
P
----- Original Message -----
From: "Randy Klemme" <randyklemme(a)verizon.net>
To: <INDYTALK-L(a)rootsweb.com>
Sent: Sunday, February 20, 2005 2:45 PM
Subject: Re: [INDYTALK] Family Group Sheets
Phyllis...Have you tried talking to Mr George or Mr Freeman or Mr
Parks at
the Funderal Homes in Shelbyville about obits? I know they submit them to
the newspapers and to the radio stations, maybe he can fax you a copy?
The only question would be specific addresses of the deceased or the names
of living relatives....
Randy Klemme
----- Original Message -----
From: "Phyllis Fleming" <phyllismillerfleming(a)starband.net>
To: <INDYTALK-L(a)rootsweb.com>
Sent: Sunday, February 20, 2005 2:33 PM
Subject: Re: [INDYTALK] Family Group Sheets
> But... the FTM license agreement specifically says their reports are not
> to be published verbatim.
>
> Thanks for the info on the obits. Our local newspaper says I am
> violating copyright law if I republish their obits. Are they outside the
> law when they tell me I can't republish? That would be great if true. I
> spend quite a bit of time "summarizing" the current obits. The editor
> did give me permission to use pre-1950 obits straight from the paper.
> All obits 1950-post I must summarize (according to The Shelbyville News).
>
> Glad I brought this up.
>
> Thanks,
Darlene Anderson
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Recording Secretary, Indiana Genealogical Society
Executive Director, Genealogical Society of Marion County, IN
County Coordinator, Marion County, Indiana INGenWeb
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