Robin,
Go ahead and post the obits. My guess that the reason you have not heard
back from the paper, is because the issue TO THEM is so trivial as to not
warrant any time on their part to answer. Perhaps you will eventually hear
back from them at some point, but that could take months and months.
Copyrights only matter when you intend to claim someone else's work as your
own, and make a profit from it. And since it is part of USGenWeb, which
states nothing on our pages can we charge for, that is something you can
always fall back on. The big item to remember here, is to be sure to
mention which paper the obit came from. Then there is no issue with
copyright, and in fact, the paper appreciates the acknowledgement.
Also remember, some people, such as book reviewers, reprint portions of
books as part of their reviews, and this is considered fair use, and not
subject to copyright. The reviewer does not have to get permission from
every author he reviews. This is why a newspaper would consider an obit as
fair use.
I have attended several sessions on copyright laws, and have not heard of
any case of someone getting sued. And I've asked. I ALWAYS hear copyright
scares in the genealogical community, usually originating from some group
that has published some records, and they want to stop someone else from
publishing the same things, such as cemetery records. Foolishly people
believe those scares, when they in fact, aren't true. I can retype
cemetery records that have already been published, and publish them myself.
(I CAN'T photo-copy their pages, and claim them as my own.) This is the
big difference!
Also, MAK says that when the family pays for the obit, the copyright is
really that of the poster, not the newpaper, and this is not correct. It
still belongs to the newspaper, because they do the setup and publishing.
Everything in the paper belongs to the paper. Just because you pay for
something, does not mean you own the copyright. Also, an obit is such a
small part of the whole paper. You are not attempting to compete with the
paper, and you are not charging a fee. There is no reason for a paper to
sue you because you are taking away income from them.
I have obits on my website since 1998. Most of them are old, but I
have some newer ones, and never heard any complaints. I have friends and
relatives who work for newspapers, and when I mention the obit issue
regarding copyrights, they laugh, because for them it's a non-issue.
Just my two cents worth.
tracy reinhardt
On Fri, Oct 31, 2008 at 5:29 AM, Robin Hoff Kaspar
<kaspar.robin(a)gmail.com>wrote:
Back when I started my site (1997) I was thrilled to receive
contributions of obituaries. But there was a lot of discussion on the
lists about copyright infringement (not that that has changed but it
was a real hot topic back then) and I made the decision that I didn't
want to be some rinky-dink newspaper publisher's legal test case and
put a disclaimer on my obit index page that I would not post full-text
obituaries that were less than 75 years old. I post the name of the
deceased, date of death and link to the submitter for private
communication.
Fast forward to 2008. I pay for a subscription to one of the local
county newspapers because that's where my family lives. While I'm
checking the vital records page for news of family members, I index
all the obits. Earlier this year I wrote to the publishers of the
other newspapers in the county and asked if they would comp me on a
subscription in the interest of community service (I explained why I
wanted them). I make my living advertising in small rural newspapers
and felt sure I could connect with these people. (I have placed
advertising in these papers in the past, a fact I mentioned in the
letters, thinking that would surely get me "in.") Well, I was wrong. I
never heard a word from any of them, not even to say "are you out of
your mind?"
So a lady has just sent me transcripts of several obits that are not
very old (30-some years). I have half a mind to remove my disclaimer
and start posting these obits. But I still want to be a responsible
citizen, not go half-cocked because these guys blew me off. I truly
believe the chances of being sued are very very slim. But do I want to
risk it, both personally and as a representative of sorts of USGenWeb?
Have there been any known cases of at least a threat of legal action
by a newspaper?
Can I get some opinions?
Thanks,
Robin
Grant County WIGenWeb
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