Sara,
I understand that people who are grieving are somewhat vulnerable and
want to retain their family's privacy but do they really think that
posting an obituary is only going to be seen by their friends and
family? Once it's out there, stopping it from being seen by anyone is
like trying to recapture your last breath, can't be done. With most of
the major newspapers now being archived online and Ancestry, America's
obits and many other sites also archiving them trying to remove the obit
from just one place is pretty futile.
Bottom line, I would probably do what she asked but not without asking
her to take time and reconsider. This is one reason I decided not to
post obituaries on my county site. I also admin the county mailing list
and message board on Rootsweb and choose to have people who want an
obituary posted to post it themselves on the board which is then
gatewayed to the list. I then create an index on my county site with the
link to the obit on the board. It also is available by searching the
boards and the list archives.
This also takes any liability off of you as an OHGenWeb CC as you are
not posting the actual obit, only a link to it. If someone finds it on
the list or boards and finds it offensive, they can request it be
removed themselves.
I used to post the links to the daily obits posted in the Times Recorder
on my list but recently turned the reigns over to a new person who
wanted to add her own touch and she included the obits themselves along
with the links. She was contacted by a women who was distraught as she
somehow found her husband's obit posted on the list archives and was
convinced that someone would see it and come to her house and steal
everything she had or murder her in her sleep. Grief can do some really
strange things to people especially an older woman who may be alone for
the first time in her life but I still find the thought that an obituary
is anyone's property a little disconcerting. Since no one is profiting
from it, except for some sites that will remain nameless, I see no
copyright infringement and in fact they are willingly putting it out in
the public domain, and paying someone to do it for them. If you want
something to be private, DON"T PUT IT IN THE PAPER!!!
Denny Shirer - drdx(a)neo.rr.com - Canton, OH
Shirer Family Genealogy -
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~mysong
Muskingum County, OHGenWeb -
http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~ohmuskin/
Sara Greer wrote:
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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