Dutch-Colonies-L Archives

Archiver > Dutch-Colonies > 2002-01 > 1010175567


From: "Peter R Christoph" <>
Subject: Re: [D-Col] Cronkhite genealogy online
Date: Fri, 4 Jan 2002 15:20:47 -0500
References: <3C35DB4E.F75C2CAD@global2000.net>


Perhaps a comment on copyright is in order, since what has occurred here may
mislead people and get them into trouble. I speak now, not as a lawyer
(which I am not), but as a retired manuscript librarian and archivist who
has heard these issues often discussed at professional gatherings and among
colleagues.

Registering a copyright with the government is not the same thing as the
actual right of copy. One has a right of copy even without the registering.
An "uncopyrighted" manuscript is the intellectual property of the creator,
unless that person has relinquished the rights. Note that there is a
different between the person or agency who owns the physical document, and
the owner of the intellectual contets -- they may be the same person, or
not. For instance, let us say that Albert Einstein wrote his girl friend a
love letter, which she still has. She can't publish it because the contents
belong to Albert, or in this case his heirs. If you can establish that you
are the only surviving literary heir of Genghis Khan, then you alone have
the right to publish a newly discovered letter from old Genghis.

One way in which a person or agency can forfeit a right of copy is by
publishing his own work (or agreeing to someone else publishing it) without
including a notice in the publication that the work is copyright. Even in
this case, the U. S. copyright office does not have to be informed -- it is
only necessary to put the statement of copyright in the book, usually found
on the back of the title page.

Now in the case at hand, a manuscript at the New York State Library.
Assuming that the intellectual rights were transferred along with the
document, it can be published by anyone. But only because the State Library
considers its holdings to be the property of the people of the state of New
York, to be published for the public benefit by whoever wishes to (it is
still best to get written permission, since the state is not required to be
so obliging). As to the policy of some other library, historical society,
church, or government office, don't just assume you can copy and print
whatever you want, because you could be in for a nasty surprise. Get
permission, get it in writing, and get it from the person or officer who has
a right to grant it. And if you get the wrong person to grant you
permission, ignorance is not an excuse.

Peter


----- Original Message -----
From: "Cliff Lamere" <>
To: <>
Sent: Friday, January 04, 2002 11:41 AM
Subject: [D-Col] Cronkhite genealogy online


> Margaret Taylor transcribed an uncopyrighted 1952 genealogy of the
Cronkhite family in Eastern NY and New England. It had been a manuscript at
the NYS Library. She indexed it and then returned the improved copy to the
library.
>
> I recently posted the genealogy and index. It is a large file, but I
couldn't get it smaller without breaking it into pieces. I didn't think
that most users would prefer that.
>
>
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~clifflamere/Misc/Cronkhite-Gen.htm
>
> Cliff
>
>
> ==== Dutch-Colonies Mailing List ====
> NOTICE: Posting of virus warnings, test messages, chain letters, political
> announcements, current events, personal messages, flames,
> etc. is NOT ALLOWED and will be grounds for removal
> LIST ARCHIVES: http://archiver.rootsweb.com/th/index/dutch-colonies
> and
http://searches2.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/listsearch.pl?list=dutch-colonies
> and exclusion from this mailing list.
> For comments or list administration questions,please contact
> Holly Timm
>
> ==============================
> To join Ancestry.com and access our 1.2 billion online genealogy records,
go to:
> http://www.ancestry.com/rd/redir.asp?targetid=571&sourceid=1237
>
>


This thread: