OHDELAWA-L Archives

From: <>
Subject: Re: copyrights, "Fair Use", and genealogy
Date: Sun, 11 Dec 2005 12:59:00 -0500
References: <006601c5fddb$afa330e0$6500a8c0@oemcomputer>

I would be very interested in these comments as we have had a major
disagreement on this issue on a private website I have. My understanding of
the law is that if credit is given to the person who copyrighted the
information and 10 or less copies are posted, the information may be used.
The restriction being that you can not include in published material without
express written permission from the author of the work or the one who
copyrighted it. One of my nephews pointed out another provision to the
copyright law that I did not know, that if it is for teaching or instruction
purposes, copyrighted material may be used. For a public website, I believe
the parameters are different. Please correct me if I am wrong. Because of
this disagreement, we have taken all pictures and other things that are not
owned by the family or that we have copies of. Thank you. Pat Morano
----- Original Message -----
From: "Paul Drake" <>
To: <>
Sent: Saturday, December 10, 2005 5:47 PM
Subject: copyrights, "Fair Use", and genealogy


>I again have been asked for my article or comments concerning genealogy and
> the copyright provisions in the U.S. Code known as "Fair Use" (of the
> words
> and works of others). That article was published by NGS, however older
> copies of the NGS Newsletter in which it appeared are not available on the
> internet. I have scanned that article, and it is on my web site at the
> URLs
> set out below.
>
> NOTE: the article was done by Mrs. Linn and me when the internet was very
> new. So, though what is "Fair Use" of the published words and works of
> others is very important to all genealogists and has not changed since
> this
> article, the law as it relates to the internet yet is evolving and is not
> clear in some applications. So, I defer to you who have knowledge
> concerning the recent effects/rulings of the "Fair Use" provisions as
> those
> apply to the internet. (Craig? Brent? Janet?)
>
> Further, though such affect what is "Fair Use" only indirectly, the
> periods
> of protection for copyrighted works have been to a measure extended, and
> unpublished works likely now may not be copied and published by other than
> the original author or his/her heirs or assigns no matter how long ago
> created.
>
> Still though, for our purposes as genealogy buffs, what will be viewed by
> courts as "Fair Use" remains quite as it has been for some years. The
> article is 5 pages in length and is in order by page at:
>
> http://webpages.charter.net/pdd50/cr1.jpg
> http://webpages.charter.net/pdd50/cr2.jpg
> http://webpages.charter.net/pdd50/cr3.jpg
> http://webpages.charter.net/pdd50/cr4.jpg
> http://webpages.charter.net/pdd50/cr5.jpg
>
> Paul Drake JD
> Genealogist & Author
> <www.DrakesBooks.com>
> 931-484-9129
>
> ______________________________

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