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Archiver > KS-OLD-NEWSPAPERS > 2002-02 > 1014244069


From: "D. Small Gilligan" <>
Subject: Re: [KS-OLD-NEWS] Newbie
Date: Wed, 20 Feb 2002 17:27:49 -0500
References: <163.92624af.29a55edf@aol.com> <00d801c1ba4f$5d7f6fa0$b9cd5ecc@cei.net>


Thank you Diana. I think we are all on the same page now. I agree
about the pre-1930 news since most of us who use Rootsweb do so
because we are researching early history. It would be relatively easy
for us to obtain loan copies of newspapers later than that. I have a
few pages of "The Copyright Handbook" which has a small reference in
the introduction about news(paper) stories (I think I found this
chapter in a large soft-cover book dedicated to research and found in
most libraries entitled "The Source."

One paragraph header reads, "Ideas and Facts Are Not Protected"
The article tells us that the works that readers buy (borrow,
etc.) primarily for the ideas and facts they contain, not their
language, receive less protection such as histories, biographies,
how-to-books, news stories and so forth.

We are told that the purpose of copyright is to encourage intellectual
and artistic creation, not to stifle it, and that is why we are
permitted in libraries, etc., to go to the archives and copy from
those wonderful history books..

Before 1978, all published works had to contain a copyright notice to
be protected by copyright. That is no longer so. Since then, the
copyright notice is optional (though you might want to add your
copyright notice to deter someone who is not aware of an author's
rights.

I am quoting here, one item that would further clarify that much of
what we might include here at this Mailing List will make no
difference where copyright is concerned. I found the paragraph on the
internet in 1999 and have just returned to the website and the address
is still good. http://www.unc.edu/%7Eunclng/public-d.htm

"Under the 1909 Act, works published without notice went into the
public domain upon publication. Works published without notice between
1-1-78 and 3-1-89, effective date of the Berne Convention
Implementation Act, retained copyright only if, e.g., registration was
made within five years. 17 U.S.C. ยง 405".

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