Copyright Information

Copyright General Statement
It is vital for genealogists/family historians to understand copyright laws, not only for the protection of others' rights, but to ensure that they retain the rights to their own work.

The only way to protect The USGenWeb Project as a whole, and each of us as participants in the project, is to remove all lookup offers for which you do not have written permission or have not determined that the source is in public domain and, therefore, requiring no permission.

Besides any legal ramifications; The USGenWeb Project, as a great new project, does not want to offend our many friends who work tirelessly for little profit to publish these great reference sources. The USGenWeb Project does not want to offend those who do legitimate professional research - let us not make these people our enemies - we want them as our partners. It is that recognition plus concern for The USGenWeb Project and all individuals involved which has led to the establishment of The USGenWeb Project's Official Copyright Policy.

The 4 Golden Rules of Copyright

Materials older than 1923 are absolutely safe.
Relaying FACTS is OK (This does not mean copying)
If the use of material created by someone else diminishes the market value of that person's work, then the copyright has been violated.
Getting written (not email) permission from the author/publisher is the surest way to ensure that you are not violating copyright law.

Copyright Law - An Overview

The Internet and Copyright - The internet is nothing more than another method of publication. Orginal wording appearing on a web page cannot be reproduced without permission. A web page cannot reproduce material subject to a valid copyright without permission.

What is covered by Copyright - There has been some discussion that authors/publishers cannot copyright facts. This is and isn't true. The original records cannot be copyrighted, but for example, a compilation of them can be. Anyone, however, is free to consult the original records and make their own compilation and are free to do whatever they want with them. But, even though someone abstracts/transcribes public records, they cannot be tossed about either. The law specifically recognizes the right of the person doing the work, in this case the transcriber, to be compensated for their work. An article, poem, etc. may be copyrighted individually, but it is also covered if the publication in which it appears is copyrighted. Accumulated genealogical information, to the extent that it is an expression, can be protected, but the facts in the information cannot be protected.

Copyright Law Before 1978 - Under the Pre 1978 copyright law, a published work was copyrighted for 28 years and could be renewed for another 28 years, for a total of 56 years. Renewal is filed within 2 years of the expiration. When the new law went into effect in 1978, that copyright protection was extended to a total of 75 years for all works currently covered by copyright. Prior to 1978, it was necessary to both give notice of the claim of copyright and to register the copyright for protection. If a work was distributed (published) without a copyright notice, then material was not copyrighted. Under the Pre 1978 copyright law, there was no protection of an author's right in a work until it was published. "Published" means distributed to the public, not that a publishing company printed and distributed the work.

The Current Copyright Law - Since Jan. 1, 1978, everything an author (including you and me) writes is protected by copyright the minute it is written. Under the new law, no registration is necessary though notice is required. Registering a copyright costs $10.00 (1996)

Duration of a Copyright -

Copyright protection under the 1978 law extends for the rest of the author's life and an additional 50 years beyond it. The new law does not depend on publication. Works by two or more authors extend 50 years beyond the death of the last author to die. Anonymous works, works under a pseudonym, and works for hire extend 75 years from publication or 100 years from creation.
Material copyrighted after 1950 is protected until at least 2025 (1978-28 = 1950 + 75 years)
Material originally published between 1923 and 1949 and had the copyright renewed are protected for a total of 75 years from original copyright.
Material published before 31 December 1949, and on which the copyright was not renewed, are in Public Domain 1949 + 28 years = 1977 covered by pre 1978 Law).
Material published earlier than 1 January, 1923, are in the public domain (1996 - 75 years).
Public Domain - Any published/written material on which the copyright has expired is considered to be in the "public domain" and may be used by the general public without payment to or permission from the author.
What is Fair Use on Copyrited Material - The copyright act does not set down definite limitations on how many paragraphs or words constitute "fair use" of copyrighted materials. Instead, it sets up four criteria to determine fair use:

The purpose and character of the use
The nature of the copyrighted work
The amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the entire work
Effect of the use on the market for, or value, of the work.
The author of The Beginning Writer's Answer Book concludes that a good standard is to limit yourself to quoting fewer than a hundred words from an entire book.

Using Copyright Material - One way to avoid violating copyright is to paraphrase material--to put it into your own words--or use indirect quotes. You should, however, always give credit to the source and refrain from extensive use of paraphrasing or indirect quotes. The copyright law itself, under the fair use provision, protects the users' right to copy copyrighted material. The copying of copyrighted work for scholarship or research, among other purposes, is not an infringement of copyright protection. Furthermore, you are not restricted from publishing (or otherwise selling) your scholarship or research. In general, if you republish something exactly the way it looked when first published, you have to worry about copyright laws unless the work is over 75 years old. Regardless of whether copyright laws apply to your situation, The USGenWeb Project urges you to cite your sources in all genealogy work. It makes it easier for the next person to verify what you are doing, and recognizes good work.

Where to get Permission - The publisher is the best place to write for permission to quote from a book, poem, song or magazine aticle. Ask your reference librarian for help locating the publisher's address if it is not printed in the book or magazine. If the publisher is no longer in business, try locating the author in Who's Who in Literature at your local library.

Copyright Fees - There is usually no fee for permission to quote from copyrighted materials.

Copyright Infringement and Remedies

What Are Copyright Infringements, 17 USC, Section 501 - Copyright Infringements can occur from several different actions and/or methods. ALL of these aspects must be considered in each case.

The source itself -- is it copyrighted or public domain? If it is copyrighted, who holds the copyright and what are the requirements of that person or entity?
The amount and type of information taken from the copyrighted source.
The market effect of one's use of the information -- it will probably be on this point that someone will eventually be sued for copyright infringement.
The person or entity using the information from the copyrighted source -- because different rules apply to different entities.
Are we equivalent to a public library? Are we educators? Is The USGenweb Project a non-profit organization in the LEGAL sense? I think most of us will agree that this project doesn't yet have clear legal claim to any of those titles or privileges. This doesn't mean that we can't qualify, only that at this moment we don't qualify.
Remedies - There are two provisions in the law for remedies of violation of the copyright of a person. Both are rather severe-- the person who feels they have been violated may sue for actual damages or statutory damages.

Actual damages include lost sales, the profit the infringing party may have made from the infringement, and legal fees.
Statutory Damages are fixed at $20,000 per infringement - if I read the section correctly. This one gets a bit confusing, and is covered in 28 US Code, Judiciary and Judicial Procedure.
Burden of Proof in Infringement Actions - During the course of its deliberations on this section, the Committee's [US House of Representatives] attention was directed to a recent court decision holding that the plantiff in an infringment action had the burden of establishing that the allegedly infringing copies in the defendant's possession were not lawfully made or acquired under section 27 of the present law [that would be the 1909 version of the copyright law, the 1976 act changed this], American International Pictures, Inc., v Foreman, 400 FSupp928 (S.D. Alabama 1975).

The Committee believes that the court's decision, if followed, would place a virtually impossible burden on copyright owners. The decision is also inconsistent with the established legal principle that the burden of proof should not be placed upon a litigant to establish facts particuarly within the knowledge of his adversary. The defendant in such actions clearly has the particular knowledge of how possession of the particular copy was acquired, and should have the burden of providing this evidence to the court. It is the intent of the Committee, therefore, that in an action to determine whether a defendant is entitled to the privilege established by section 109(a) and (b), the burden of proving whether a particular copy was lawfully made or aquired should rest on the defendant. [In other words, If someone accused you of violating the infringment principles of copyright law, it is up to you to prove you didn't.]

What is Not Copyrightable

Tombstone information -- wording found on a tombstone itself cannot be copyrighted.
Public records
Public information is not copyrightable, however, a compilation of that information can be copyrighted.
Dates of birth, marriage, and death, along with the names are ordinarily not copyrightable.
Census data
It is a "legal fact" that "facts" are not copyrightable, although their arrangement in a manner other than alphabetical may be copyrightable. "Facts" are not copyrightable -- that is, they are unprotectable elements -- and the bulk of genealogical CD data is factual vital-statistics data that reside in the public domain from the beginning. They are not taken out of the public domain by being included in a copyrighted work.

Public Domain Materials

Public Domain Materials - Materials where Copyright Protection has Expired
Public domain material includes but is not limited to the following:

Material where the copyright has expired.
All public records
Materials published using public funds cannot be copyrighted.
Works consisting entirely of information that is common property containing no original material, and lists or tables taken from public documents or other common sources.

Reprints and Facsimile Copies

Once material enters Public Domain it may be republished or copied in part or in total by anyone.
A reprint of Public Domain material can be copyrighted. However the copyright only applies to any new material (introduction, summary, tables, index, etc.) which was added to the original. The original material is still in Public Domain and can be used freely.
Contact the reprint publisher and or author if you have a question on what is original and what is new.
LDS filmed books: what counts here is whether the original work was copyrighted. I believe that LDS either gets permission to copy or copies works on which the copyright has expired.

Copyright Information Internet Sites

U. S. Copyright Office Home Page -- U.S. Copyright Office General Information
Copyright Myths FAQ
Copyright and Intellectual Property Resources -- Bibliography of source information on copyright.
Privacy on the GenWeb
When Works Pass into the Public Domain -- Table information on copyright protection.
The ILTguide to Copyright -- This page provides information of interest to educators and others relating to copyright.
The Copyright Website! -- This site endeavors to provide real-world, practical and relevant copyright information of interest to infonauts, netsurfers, webspinners, content providers, musicians, appropriationists, activists, infringers, outlaws, and law-abiding citizens.
Oppedahl Larson -- General information about copyrights

Final Statement

We are not acting in private here. We are not merely pursuing our private avocations. We have chosen to join a grassroots movement to protect and preserve our family histories for our nation and the generations to come. In doing so we have "gone public" in a big way, and we are now subject to laws that govern such public groups.

We're all here to help the genealogical community. Folks doing lookups should understand that authors have a legitimate right to compensation, and a well-done lookup should include telling folks how to buy the book when it's of significant value to their research. Authors need to understand that genealogists have a right to look before buying and that lookups should be perceived as a marketing tool rather than a loss of sales.

Contributors:
Sunni Bloyd
Jett Hanna
John Rigdon
Jeff Weaver
John G. West
Megan Zurawicz

For more information see U.S. Copyright Office General Information