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