MDALLEGA-L Archives

Archiver > MDALLEGA > 2011-09 > 1316486592


From: Geyer Family <>
Subject: Re: [MDALLEGA] Copyright questions
Date: Mon, 19 Sep 2011 22:43:12 -0400
References: <002801cc7634$bfea92e0$3fbfb8a0$@embarqmail.com><1316373357.15040.YahooMailNeo@web160815.mail.bf1.yahoo.com><002d01cc7644$a82eb9f0$f88c2dd0$@embarqmail.com>
In-Reply-To: <002d01cc7644$a82eb9f0$f88c2dd0$@embarqmail.com>


I actually had this happen to me once. I have a website that has most
if not all of my research that I have entered into Family Tree Maker on
it. Family Tree Maker has its own copyright as pertains to its format
and the way they have the information laid out. I had someone actually
copy my entire web site, pages and all and took my name off of it and
put theirs in my place and counted it as her website. I had a long
drawn out argument with this person and her site eventually came down
but the damage was done and most of my independent research was now out
for the public to have including photos that she removed the copyright
logo from.



On 9/18/2011 4:50 PM, soulmate wrote:
> Kathi, Thank you very much this is exactly what I was looking for. No need
> for more answers.
>
> Linda
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: [mailto:]
> On Behalf Of Kathi Jones-Hudson
> Sent: Sunday, September 18, 2011 3:16 PM
> To:
> Subject: Re: [MDALLEGA] Copyright questions
>
> Factual information (names, dates, etc .) cannot be copyrighted by anyone.
> An entire book of factual information as a whole, i.e., a book of Wills, can
> be copyrighted and someone could not, for example, photocopy that book and
> pass it around (or sell it) to others. However, they can extract information
> from the book under several laws including Fair Use, which basically is
> defined as: reproduction of a particular work may be considered fair, such
> as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research.
> There are limits but Fair Use is intentionally vague -- you cannot use so
> much of an original work as to devalue its' commercial value. Definitely I
> think quoting a particular passage or extracting factual data would fall
> under Fair Use and also the non-copyright status of factual data (no matter
> what you do to factual data, compile a book, etc., it does not change the
> non-copyright status of the data).
>
> This is the best site for copyright as it applies to genealogy: Copy Right,
> Copy Sense by Michael Goad. Mike is on the RW Copyright List, is a nice guy
> and would probably answer questions if you contact him. He's not an attorney
> but a genealogy person and is pretty good with his explanations of the
> copyright law as it pertains to genealogy (which is a bit different than
> standard copyright since we are dealing in facts).
>
> http://www.pddoc.com/copyright/index.html
> Here's his section on Fair Use: http://www.pddoc.com/copyright/fair_use.htm
> And Copyright Fundamentals for Genealogy:
> http://www.pddoc.com/copyright/genealogy_copyright_fundamentals.htm
>
>
>
> Kathi Jones-Hudson
> MD Tombstone Transcription Project Manager
> http://www.usgwtombstones.org/maryland/maryland.html
>
>
> ________________________________
> From: soulmate<>
> To: ""<>
> Sent: Sunday, September 18, 2011 11:57 AM
> Subject: [MDALLEGA] Copyright questions
>
> Can anyone direct me to or know of a website that would speak of copyright
> laws as they relate to genealogical data. If I quote a book, giving the
> (dead) authors name and page # as a source, is that a copyright
> infringement. Or use excerpts from a newspaper or periodical regarding
> historical data, is that infringement. OR a site that would just give
> substantial information regarding copyright laws. Three or four good
> answers would be sufficient, I don't want to start a firestorm of emails on
> the list.
>
>
>
> Linda Harden-Lantz
>
>
> -------------------------------
> To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to
> with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes
> in the subject and the body of the message
>
> -------------------------------
> To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to
> with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes
> in the subject and the body of the message
>
>
>
> -------------------------------
> To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message
>
>

This thread: