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Archiver > MAYFLOWER > 2003-07 > 1057453515


From: "FJ H" <>
Subject: [MFLR] Copyright questions
Date: Sat, 05 Jul 2003 18:05:37 -0700


Hello again cousins and friends.

This is sort of "on topic" but just off the beaten path....

I am preparing to publish privately in very limited copies (100-200 total) a
book of one of my lineages. I am absorbing the considerable costs (likely
well over $25 per book) myself, to be offset by donations from my family.
There will be no profit, only "loss."

The book contains (1) the memoirs of my great-grandfather for which I hold
copyright - no problem there. It also contas (2) the ancestry and
decsendants of my great-grandfather and his wife. Those chapters are
reports I have compiled over 28 years of research and every individual is
carefully documented. I will also have an abbreviated "Kinship" report
showing direct and ancestors, descendants, and famous cousins. Finally, I
will have family pictures that I have gathered over the many years.

Now, here is the "catch" (if there is one). I have quoted many of the books
I own to show bits and pieces of the lives of the people in these trees. I
own over 200 books, many out of print or old, others rather recent,
including the Mayflower Families series. Most of my quotations are a
paragraph or two about an individual, here and there. Some of the quotes,
however, are more extensive.

I have been to the copyright office site (http://www.copyright.gov/) and
read about "fair use," but it is incredibly vague. (Just what lawyers love,
I suppose).

Section 107 contains a list of the various purposes for which the
reproduction of a particular work may be considered fair, such as
criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research.
Section 107 also sets out four factors to be considered in determining
whether or not a particular use is fair:

1) the purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of
commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes (mine is clearly
non-profit educational);

2) the nature of the copyrighted work (mine is scholarship and research);

3) amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the
copyrighted work as a whole (in most cases mine is small or even
insignificant - but in a few cases it is more extensive); and

4) the effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the
copyrighted work. (This last one is really tough. I would THINK that my
book, carefully quoting all sources, would lead a scholar to want to BUY the
source book for MORE information!)

The copyright.gov site states: "The distinction between fair use and
infringement may be unclear and not easily defined. There is no specific
number of words, lines, or notes that may safely be taken without
permission. Acknowledging the source of the copyrighted material does not
substitute for obtaining permission."

I know some of the people on this site have published before. Should I
worry about 100-200 copies done at Kinkos and hard-cover bound for family
heirlooms? In other words, should I delay printing this book until (and IF)
I can obtain permission from whoever I am able to find with copyrights to
some of my quoted material? Or is it enough to give credit to all sources,
not sell the books, and just get these done?

My major concerns are:

1. major delays trying to get permission
2. misunderstandings from publishers and legal wrangling that eliminates
good information from my book
3. getting sued by some "ambulance chaser" lawyer if I make a mistake or
miss someone

I have put thousands and thousands of dollars into this research, not to
mention YEARS of time over the last 28 years. It has taken me a year just
to compile the book and get the old family photos restored so I can print
them. (Some of the photos are tintypes from 1864.) I have scores of family
members who have been begging me to create this book for the last several
years and now that it is almost done, I want to be sure I give them the best
heirloom I can.

I welcome your advice!

Oh, by the way, the book is called, "By God's Grace: A Jordan Family
History." My mother was a Jordan and I trace her Jordan roots through Rev.
Robert Jordan of Falmouth, Me (via England) ca. 1643. Mom's
great-great-grandmother was a Delano and that line goes back to seven
Mayflower passengers (Alden, Mullins (3), Standish, Samson, and Doty). Her
family connects as cousins to John Adams and his wife Abigail, John Quincy
Adams, Ulysses S. Grant, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Barbara (Pierce) Bush
and her son, George Walker Bush, Laura Ingalls Wilder, Henry Wadsworth
Longfellow, and James Danforth Quayle.

I anticipate that the book will be over 500 pages long, although I am still
putting it together in PageMaker.

Thanks for your advice - I know there are some VERY knowledgeable and
thoughtful people here.

Blessings,
Father John

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