I enjoy grandchildren, traveling, reading, gardening, baseball and most importantly, genealogy & History.

Please visit my brother-in-law's memorial: Ronnie Parr 228804524

Surnames: Levitt, Parr, Dailey, Hill, Tilley, Gilbert, Sweazy, Keplar, Martin, Edgar, Stone, Ingram, Perry, Davisson, Mainard/Maynard, Mulvany/Mulvaney, Hyde, Miller, Riley, Sapp, Nigh/Nye/Neü, Wolfe/Wolff/Wolf, Boyer, Kunce, Matheny, Johnson, Harper, Burrell, Smith, Boyd, Costello, Kidwell, Guynn, Evans, Jones, Dale, Camfield, Stringfellow and many more.

Why don't I always include military rank on memorials? I believe Military rank should only be included if the person was currently serving at the time of death, or career military.

If I have a memorial of someone who is not in my direct line of ancestry, whether within guidelines or not, please feel free to ask for a transfer. I am more than happy to transfer to anyone who has a closer relationship than I do. I'm not doing this to "collect" memorials, I am simply making memorials for those who intersect with my lines because everyone deserves to be honored and remembered. I have a special place in my heart for veterans, orphans, immigrants, and anyone who died in an old asylum.

Copyright and the obit

Posted on September 12, 2012 by Judy G. Russell

Used by permission from Judy G. Russell

That oh-so-common, oh-so-murky question of whether newspaper obituaries are covered by copyright and when, where and how they can be used. Just about every question connected with obituaries and copyright law has to be answered with that most wonderful of The Legal Genealogist's answers. You know the one I mean. The one that has us all tearing our hair out.First, anything that was published in the United States before 1923 is now in the public domain. That means there is no copyright restriction on it of any kind and you are free to use it in any way you'd like.So as far as any obituary published before 1923, it's fair game and nobody has to be concerned about it at all.Second, if something was published between 1923 and 1963 with a copyright notice — and most newspapers did include some kind of copyright statement somewhere in their pages — that copyright ended 28 years after publication unless the newspaper renewed the copyright by filing a registration with the U.S. Copyright Office and paying an additional fee. It may not be the easiest thing in the world to check to see whether a newspaper renewed its copyright — the records exist in an enormous card catalog in the U.S. Copyright Office at the Library of Congress — but my bet is that the vast majority of American newspapers didn't bother renewing their copyrights on their archival editions.So assuming that the newspaper whose obituaries were transcribed by this local history group didn't bother renewing its copyrights day by day after their initial term, any obituary published between 1923 and 1963 became public domain — fair game — 28 years later. An obituary published in 1950, for example, went into the public domain in 1978; an obituary published in 1960 went into the public domain in 1988.Third, the fact that the obituary ran in the pages of a newspaper that was copyrighted doesn't mean the obituary itself was covered by copyright — or, at least, not by the newspaper copyright. Remember that facts by themselves can't be copyrighted. There has to be some spark of creativity for copyright protection.So a newspaper that used a fill-in-the-blanks form and printed nothing but facts might very well not be able to claim copyright in the obituary at all.Fourth, just because the newspaper published the obituary doesn't mean the newspaper owns the copyright. Here again remember that whoever actually contributed that creative spark, that original expression, is the author and it's the author who owns the copyright unless the author signs a written agreement giving the copyright to somebody else.

http://www.legalgenealogist.com/blog/2012/09/12/copyright-and-the-obit/

I enjoy grandchildren, traveling, reading, gardening, baseball and most importantly, genealogy & History.

Please visit my brother-in-law's memorial: Ronnie Parr 228804524

Surnames: Levitt, Parr, Dailey, Hill, Tilley, Gilbert, Sweazy, Keplar, Martin, Edgar, Stone, Ingram, Perry, Davisson, Mainard/Maynard, Mulvany/Mulvaney, Hyde, Miller, Riley, Sapp, Nigh/Nye/Neü, Wolfe/Wolff/Wolf, Boyer, Kunce, Matheny, Johnson, Harper, Burrell, Smith, Boyd, Costello, Kidwell, Guynn, Evans, Jones, Dale, Camfield, Stringfellow and many more.

Why don't I always include military rank on memorials? I believe Military rank should only be included if the person was currently serving at the time of death, or career military.

If I have a memorial of someone who is not in my direct line of ancestry, whether within guidelines or not, please feel free to ask for a transfer. I am more than happy to transfer to anyone who has a closer relationship than I do. I'm not doing this to "collect" memorials, I am simply making memorials for those who intersect with my lines because everyone deserves to be honored and remembered. I have a special place in my heart for veterans, orphans, immigrants, and anyone who died in an old asylum.

Copyright and the obit

Posted on September 12, 2012 by Judy G. Russell

Used by permission from Judy G. Russell

That oh-so-common, oh-so-murky question of whether newspaper obituaries are covered by copyright and when, where and how they can be used. Just about every question connected with obituaries and copyright law has to be answered with that most wonderful of The Legal Genealogist's answers. You know the one I mean. The one that has us all tearing our hair out.First, anything that was published in the United States before 1923 is now in the public domain. That means there is no copyright restriction on it of any kind and you are free to use it in any way you'd like.So as far as any obituary published before 1923, it's fair game and nobody has to be concerned about it at all.Second, if something was published between 1923 and 1963 with a copyright notice — and most newspapers did include some kind of copyright statement somewhere in their pages — that copyright ended 28 years after publication unless the newspaper renewed the copyright by filing a registration with the U.S. Copyright Office and paying an additional fee. It may not be the easiest thing in the world to check to see whether a newspaper renewed its copyright — the records exist in an enormous card catalog in the U.S. Copyright Office at the Library of Congress — but my bet is that the vast majority of American newspapers didn't bother renewing their copyrights on their archival editions.So assuming that the newspaper whose obituaries were transcribed by this local history group didn't bother renewing its copyrights day by day after their initial term, any obituary published between 1923 and 1963 became public domain — fair game — 28 years later. An obituary published in 1950, for example, went into the public domain in 1978; an obituary published in 1960 went into the public domain in 1988.Third, the fact that the obituary ran in the pages of a newspaper that was copyrighted doesn't mean the obituary itself was covered by copyright — or, at least, not by the newspaper copyright. Remember that facts by themselves can't be copyrighted. There has to be some spark of creativity for copyright protection.So a newspaper that used a fill-in-the-blanks form and printed nothing but facts might very well not be able to claim copyright in the obituary at all.Fourth, just because the newspaper published the obituary doesn't mean the newspaper owns the copyright. Here again remember that whoever actually contributed that creative spark, that original expression, is the author and it's the author who owns the copyright unless the author signs a written agreement giving the copyright to somebody else.

http://www.legalgenealogist.com/blog/2012/09/12/copyright-and-the-obit/