Hi all. Before this copyright discussion goes any further, please take a
look at the U.S. Copyright Office's homepage at
All the rules & regulations are right there for everyone to read.
The best rule with copyright is when in doubt, get permission. The old
military adage "it is easier to beg forgiveness than ask permission"
does not really apply when you start talking monetary damages!!!
Having said that, obituaries are in that "fuzzy" zone. Anything printed
1922 or earlier is in the public domain because the copyright has
expired. Whether one recent obit would be considered fair use or not
would be up to a judge to decide. While I suspect he would say it is
fair use, nevertheless this issue has not been litigated (as is the case
with numerous genealogical copyright questions) so no one really can say
for sure (not even a lawyer - they only say opinions, same as everyone
else - albiet an "educated" opinion <g>). Oh, and let me say that
unfortunately, IT IS WRONG that you can say whatever you want as long as
you credit your sources and IT IS WRONG that there is a difference
between personal vs. public use, and besides, Internet publishing is
very public, not private (sorry MAK! <g>). (That last part is JMO!)
Copyright is a very hot topic & very often mis-stated when it comes to
internet discussions. If you are interested, please take the time to
read the law. It's available for everyone & pretty clearly written.
Thank you.
Maureen Reed
MAK wrote:
Robin, I think perhaps this is the same as quoting a written source.
The
way I understand it, no permission is needed if the quote is written
per
vertim and properly footnoted. Also, fair use is rather vague, but
usually
would mean to take only what is needed to make the point. Passages
over 40
words, or multiple paragraphs would be questionable, however, an obit
would
not normally fall into that category.
Now, a whole newspaper article would definitely need permission... In
addition,
if you are paraphrasing from a source, that should also be annotated.
Also,
there are rules concerning personal vs public usage. I happen to
think that
our web pages would be personal usage, while the archives would be
public
usage...
Just my thoughts on the subject.
R/S MAK
At 10:19 AM 1/10/98 -0600, you wrote:
>Marsha,
>
>I agree that it probably falls under fair use, but you should still
seek
>permission. All it takes is one to fight. Rootsweb does not permit
the
>listing of information that "may" be under copyright without
permission of
>the author. Remember, everything in the archives makes Rootsweb
liable,
>regardless of who put it there or the circumstances. Let's play it
safe and
>make sure Rootsweb does not have ANYTHING to worry about :)
>
>Robin
>
>At 09:45 AM 1/10/98 -0600, you wrote:
>>Robin,
>>
>>Hi, I'm Marsha Wilcox and I submitted that obit that Sandi just
>>uploaded.
>>
>>Copyright is always a consideration, but in this case it's a 2
paragraph
>>blurb and I think that falls under "fair use." Consider how many
pages
>>the Shawano Evening Leader is, vs how big that 1 obit is, and I
don't
>>think they'll argue.
>>
>>Besides, they spelled my grandmother's name wrong, they had the obit
>>under Margaret Langloff, when her name is/was Langhoff. ;-)
>>
>>If they argue, I'll take the heat, since I authorized & submitted
it.
>>
>>I'd think that if we started archiving whole columns from
newspapers,
>>we'd be violating copyright, but an occasional one shouldn't be a
>>problem if properly credited.
>>
>>If Robin Helman thinks I should, I'll write to the Evening Leader
asking
>>for permission (but I think they'll laugh).
>>
>>Let me know.
>>
>>Happy Hunting!
>>Marsha Wilcox
>>mwilcox(a)lnd.com
>>Davis & Wilcox Web Design --
http://www.usroots.com/spungold/dwwd.html
>>USGenWeb County Coordinator for:
>>Lake Co., IL --
http://www.rootsweb.com/~illake/
>>Listowner for ILLAKE-L, tracing your roots in Lake Co., IL
>>Oconto Co., WI --
http://www.rootsweb.com/~wioconto/
>>Shawano Co., WI --
http://www.rootsweb.com/~wishawan/
>>Home Page --
http://mall.lnd.com/wilcox/
>>My Genealogy Page:
http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Meadows/1616/
>>
>>Robin Hoff Kaspar wrote:
>>>
>>> Sandi, are there copywrite issues involved in archiving
obituaries? I
>>> started putting submitted obits on my county page and then saw
something on
>>> rootsweb-L about copywrite considerations on rootsweb. So, I only
put full
>>> text obits on my page that are 75 years old or older, anything
newer I just
>>> make an index entry.
>>>
>>> Robin Hoff Kaspar
>>> coordinator, Grant County WIGenWeb
>>>
http://www.rootsweb.com/~wigrant/
>>> e-mail: robinkaspar(a)compuserve.com
>>
>>
>>
>
>
>
--
+>+>+>+>+>+>+>+>+>+>+>+>+>+>+>+>+>+>+
Michael T. & Maureen K. Reed >
Olathe, KS +
mailto:mreed@sky.net >
"A thought's not fit to think +
until it's printed in ink... >
If it says so +
So it is!" - Rabbit >
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