I am also not an attorney, but I do operate two newspapers.
Obituaries are usually written by the funeral home or the family, so the
newspaper cannot claim any rights of ownership.
I would suggest putting up name, birth date and death date - they are public
information. And if you can find the obit on the Legacy site, a link to it
as a service to researchers.
You also may wish to respond to Andrea explaining what OHGenWeb is and
informing her that her obituary has been removed.
I agree that it's not worth fighting over - unless you have the same
financial wherewithal as Cox Newspapers.
Dale
-----Original Message-----
From: ohgen-bounces(a)rootsweb.com [mailto:ohgen-bounces@rootsweb.com] On
Behalf Of Sara Greer
Sent: Saturday, October 24, 2009 11:36 AM
To: ohgen(a)rootsweb.com
Subject: [OHGENWEB] Fwd: regarding an obituary and copyright infringement
Hi Everyone;
I just received this email address, and I was interested in how everyone
else responds this request. I wrote to her letting her know that I would
remove the obituary and that someone else submitted it. Usually people are
very happy to put obituaries in the database, this...is different.
Sara Greer
Clark County, OH GenWeb Coordinator
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Andrea Heslin <andrea65(a)columbus.rr.com>
Date: Thu, Oct 22, 2009 at 4:52 PM
Subject: regarding an obituary and copyright infringement
To: sjgreer30(a)gmail.com
I am the author of one of the obituaries that have been posted on the
http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~ohclark/obituary/query118.htm website
which has been stolen from the Springfield News-Sun newspaper. I WROTE and
PAID for the obituary regarding Louis R. Schriener that was published
November 10, 2004. I have noted that you have published this obituary in
it's entirety without my permission or the permission of the newspaper. I
strongly ask that you remove this obituary at once. I will be sending this
website along to the newspaper editor and to my attorney. This obituary was
placed in the newspaper for the family and friends of my father. It was not
placed there for theft. By posting this online you have violated the
copyright law.
Sincerely,
Andrea C. Heslin
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