CROCKER-L Archives

From: "Michael Crocker" <>
Subject: Re: [CROCKER-L] Identities
Date: Fri, 22 May 1998 22:51:12 -0400

> Is what is on the net copyrighted? Some say yes, some say no.

That's the wrong way to ask the question. That's like saying is every
published manuscript or book copyrighted. It really doesn't matter whether
it's on paper or electronic. Anyone who thinks that nothing on the Internet
is copyrighted, is in for a big shock.

> We don't have any RULES yet... or if we do, my lawyer doesn't know what
>they are yet.

Get a new lawyer! Or just read the copyright information for yourself.
Copyright laws apply regardless of the media the work is contained in. And
under current copyright law, publication is not required -- the work is
copyrighted at the time it is created. There are standard exemptions for
research purposes and "fair use." And some things, such as government
documents, that cannot be copyrighted.

It's not the general applicability of the copyright law that's in question,
but all the subtleties of applying the "rules" to all the various
information that is contained in a family history. The same difficulties
apply whether it is a book, web page, or email (yes, even email can be
copyrighted).
Historical facts, names, and dates are some of the types of information that
cannot be copyrighted. Family stories, and other descriptive information,
can be copyrighted, and should be considered to be so by default. Original
works whose copyright has expired cannot be recopyrighted, but Indexes,
Abstracts, etc. for that same work, which were done later, can be
copyrighted.

Anyway, copyright has nothing to do with privacy. Copyright is about who is
the author, whereas privacy is about the information contained on the people
who are the subjects of the work. Getting someone to sign a release for
privacy/security concerns should not be a problem, just tell them it's
required in order to get their info published. They would not be
surrendering copyright by signing a privacy disclosure agreement.

But, actually you don't really need to do the book manually yourself,
anyway. I've been holding off bringing this up, but I guess now is a good
time. Anyone who has a good genealogy program can print their own book.
Family Tree Maker, for instance, can print a book of multiple report styles
(Ahnentafel, pedigree chart, etc.), along with a Table of Contents and an
Index. And if the data is already entered, as when you import a GEDCOM
file, an experienced user can do this in a matter of minutes (not counting
actual print time). Someone could then take the "book" generated by a
genealogy program to a commercial printer for large-scale reproduction. So
is it really worth it for someone to do it the old fashioned way? I don't
think so.

Michael Crocker
I'm not a lawyer, but I watch them on TV.

This thread:

• [CROCKER-L] Identities by "Andrea Leonard" <>

  • Re: [CROCKER-L] Identities by "Michael Crocker" <>