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Archiver > BOARD > 2000-01 > 0948519453


From: Pam Reid <>
Subject: Re: [BOARD-L] Lookups/Copyright policies - Issue 00-6
Date: Sat, 22 Jan 2000 00:37:33 -0500


I will take care of this ASAP!

Pam

Tim Stowell wrote:
>
> Since the issue of Lookups and Copyright is continually resurfacing, I'd
> like to ask the Board members to review a message, sent to a public list in
> 1996 by then National Coordinator John Rigdon, and compare it with what we
> have listed on the National pages and see if any of the following or any
> other action needs doing:
>
> 1. The National pages need to be updated in reference to this note
> 2. The pages need to be updated regarding the latest copyright act
> 3. State Coordinators need to remind volunteers of these issues
>
> Thanks,
>
> Tim
> ----------------
> Date: Wed, 23 Oct 1996 20:06:25 +0000
> From: "John C. Rigdon"
> To: GALINA - Georgia/South Carolina USGenWeb Project
> <>
> Subject: Our Proposed Position on Lookups
>
> After much research and discussion, here is my position on the issue
> of Lookups.
>
> John Rigdon
> National Coordinator
> The USGenWeb Project
>
> COPYRIGHT FAQ
>
> It is vital for genealogists/family historians to understand
> copyright laws, not only for the protection of others' rights, but to ensure
> that we retain the rights to our own work.
>
> Besides any legal ramifications; we, as a great new project, do not
> want to offend our many friends who work tirelessly for little profit to
> publish these great source references. We do not want to offend
> those who do legitimate professional research - let us not make
> these people our enemies - We want them as our partners.
>
> It is that recognition plus concern for the organization and all
> individuals involved which led to establishment of this policy.
>
> The only way to protect the project as a whole and each of us as
> participants in that project is to remove all lookup offers
> for which you do not have written permissions or determinations that
> the source is public domain and therefore requires no permission.
>
> Infringement can occur from several different reasons or actions and
> ALL these aspects must be considered in each case.
>
> 1. The source itself--is it copyrighted or public domain? If it is
> copyrighted, who holds the copyright and what are the requirements of
> that person or entity?
>
> 2. The amount and type of information taken from the source.
>
> 3. The person or entity using the information from the
> source--because different rules apply to different entities. Are we
> equivalent to a
> public library? Are we educators? Is USGenweb a non-profit
> organization in the LEGAL sense? I think most of us will agree that this
> project
> doesn't yet have clear legal claim to any of those titles or
> privileges. This doesn't mean that we can't qualify, only that at this
> moment we
> don't qualify.
>
> 4. The market effect of one's use of the information-- it will
> probably be on this point that someone will eventually be sued for copyright
> infringement.
>
> We are not acting in private here. We are not merely pursuing our
> private avocations. We have chosen to join a grassroots movement to
> protect and preserve our family histories for our nation and the
> generations to come. In doing so we have "gone public" in a big way,
> and we are now subject to laws that govern such public groups.
>
> We're all here to help the genealogical community. Folks doing
> lookups should understand that authors have a legitimate right to
> compensation, and a well-done lookup should include telling folks
> how to buy the book when it's of significant value to their
> research. Authors need to understand that genealogists have a
> right to look before buying and that lookups should be perceived
> as a marketing tool rather than a loss of sales.
>
> ===========================
>
> USGenWeb'S Official Policy
>
> USGenWeb will not tolerate any copyright violations. Lookup requests
> should be limited to one name, or perhaps two if it is a married
> couple. Information given will be minimal, for example if it is a cemetery
> lookup, the information will be the name of the cemetery and the
> dates on the headstone. Please do not ask for "everybody with X surname"
> or an entire family group, or for hardcopies to be mailed; the
> volunteers have been asked not to comply with such requests.
>
> Our lookups will extend to searching the book to determine if the
> book would be helpful to you in your research. Should the book prove
> useful, we can provide the authors address and ordering information.
>
> The USGenWeb Project will endeavor to get a WRITTEN statement from
> each copyright holder which stipulates which books may be used for
> lookups.
> ===========================
>
> Proposed wording which we need to have from copyright holders:
>
> I grant non-exclusive permission for individuals to do lookups for
> the USGenWeb Project from my publications. I am not forfeiting my rights
> under 17 USCode Section 106.
>
> I grant permission for lookups in ______________
>
> I DO NOT grant permission for lookups in ______________
>
> Signed______________________
>
> Dated ______________________
>
> ============================
>
> Here is a general overview of copyright law.
>
> 1. COPYRIGHT LAW
> Since Jan 1, 1978, everything an author (including you and I) writes
> is protected by copyright the minute it is written.
>
> 2. DURATION OF COPYRIGHT
> Copyright protection under this law extends for the rest of the
> author's life and an additional 50 years beyond it. The new law does not
> depend on publication. Works by two or more authors extend 50 years beyond
> the death of the last author to die. Anonymous works, works under a
> pseudonym, and works for hire extend 75 years from publication or 100
> years from creation.
>
> 3. PUBLIC DOMAIN
> Any published/written material on which the copyright has expired is
> considered to be in the "public domain" and may be used by the
> general public without payment to or permission from the author. An article,
> poem, etc. may be copyrighted individually, but it is also covered if
> the publication in which is appears is copyrighted.
>
> There has been some discussion that authors/publishers cannot
> copyright facts. This is and isn't true. The original records cannot be
> copyrighted, but for example, a compilation of them can be. Anyone,
> however, is free to consult the original records and make their own
> compilation and are free to do whatever they want with them. But,
> even though someone abstracts/transcribes public records, they cannot be
> tossed about either. The law specifically recognizes the right of
> the person doing the work, in this case transcription, to be compensated
> for their work.
>
> 4. COPYRIGHT BEFORE 1978
> Under the old copyright law, a published work was copyrighted for 28
> years and could be renewed for another 28 years, for a total of 56 years.
> When the new law was passed, that copyright protection was extended to a
> total of 75 years for all works currently copyrighted. So works published
> earlier than Jan 1, 1921, are in the public domain.
>
> 5. FAIR USE
> The copyright act does not set down definite limitations on how many
> paragraphs or words constitute "fair use" of copyrighted materials.
> Instead, it sets up four criteria to determine fair use:
>
> A. The purpose and character of the use
>
> B. The nature of the copyrighted work
>
> C. The amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to
> the entire work
>
> D. Effect of the use on the market for or value of the work.
>
> The author of The Beginning Writer's Answer Book concludes that a
> good standard is to limit yourself to quoting fewer than a hundred words
> from an entire book.
>
> 6. INDIRECT QUOTATION
> One way of avoiding violating copyright is to paraphrase material--to
> put it into your own words--or use indirect quotes. You should,
> however, always give credit to the source and refrain from extensive use of
> paraphrase or indirect quotes.
>
> 7. RULE OF THUMB
> If use of material created by someone else diminishes the market
> value of that person's work, his or her copyright has been violated.
>
> 8. WHERE TO GET PERMISSION
> The publisher is the best place to write for permission to quote
> from a book, poem, song or magazine article. Ask your reference librarian
> for help locating the publisher's address if it is not printed in the book or
> magazine. If the publisher is no longer in business, try locating the
> author in Who's Who in Literature at your local library.
>
> There is usually no fee for permission to quote from copyrighted
> materials.
>
> 9. Burden of Proof in Infringement Actions
>
> During the course of its deliberations on this section, the
> Committee's [US House of Representatives] attention was directed to a recent
> court decision holding that the plaintiff in an infringement action had
> the burden of establishing that the allegedly infringing copies in
> the defendant's possession were not lawfully made or acquired under
> section 27 of the present law [that would be the 1909 version of the
> copyright law, the 1976 act changed this], American International Pictures,
> Inc., v Foreman, 400 FSupp928 (S.D. Alabama 1975). The Committee believes
> that the court's decision, if followed, would place a virtually
> impossible burden on copyright owners. The decision is also
> inconsistent with the established legal principle that the burden of
> proof should not be placed upon a litigant to establish facts
> particularly within the knowledge of his adversary. The defendant in
> such actions clearly has the particular knowledge of how possession
> of the particular copy was acquired, and should have the burden of
> providing this evidence to the court. It is the intent of the
> Committee, therefore, that in an action to determine whether a
> defendant is entitled to the privilege established by section 109(a)
> and (b), the burden of proving whether a particular copy was lawfully
> made or acquired should rest on the defendant.
>
> [In other words, If someone accused you of violating the infringement
> principles of copyright law, it is up to you to prove you didn't.]
>
> 17USC, Section 501, "Copyright Infringement and Remedies."
>
> There are two provisions in the law for remedies of violation of the
> copyright of a person. Both are rather severe, the person who feels
> they have been violated may sue for actual damages or statutory
> damages.
>
> Actual damages include, lost sales, the profit the infringing party
> may have made from the infringement, and legal fees.
>
> Statutory Damages are fixed at $20,000 per infringement if I read the
> section correctly. This one gets a bit confusing, and is covered in
> 28 US Code, Judiciary and Judicial Procedure.
>
> The following web sites provide reference on copyright law:
>
> http://www.counsel.com/cyberspace/copyright.html
> http://www.nlc-bnc.ca/ifla/II/cpyright.htm
> http://genealogy.tbox.com/jog/aug96/advanced.html
>
> Contributors:
>
> Sunni Bloyd
> Jett Hanna
> John Rigdon
> Jeff Weaver
> John G. West
> ---------------
> Email addresses removed - as most are most likely invalid at this time;
> document updated with spell check - Tim

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