RootsWeb.com Mailing Lists
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    1. Re: [AUSTRALIA-CEMETERIES] Copyright violations (Was: Aust Cemeteries Index Website)
    2. Kerry Raymond
    3. As someone with a lot of cemetery photos on the WWW, can I suggest this as the following course of action. First step. Be clear in your mind what you actually want. Are you upset that the photos are on this other WWW site? Or are you upset because the guy didn't ask you first? If he had asked you first, would you have said Yes? So, what do you want? That he asks you in future? That he removes the photos? In communicating, it is important to be clear about exactly what you are asking for. Just communicating that you are upset about the situation isn't helpful. Second step. Communicate what you want. Many people don't stop and think about issues like ownership and copyright on the WWW. Especially in hobbies like family history where people often do provide the data for other people to use and re-use as they will. So, the first thing to do is to contact this guy and point out nicely (WITHOUT UPPER CASE SHOUTING) that he has put your photos on this site without asking you and will he please do [whatever it is that you want him to do]. Very likely he is a reasonable person and will cooperate with you, and you will have educated him into the bargain about what to do in future. Note if you contact him in an aggressive way, you are much more likely to "get his back up" and he is much less likely to cooperate. That's human nature. Third step. Escalate. If he does not respond in a reasonable time (give him a few days, not everyone reads email or checks comments on Web sites every day) or he refuses your reasonable request, then you should escalate your issue to FindAGrave (in this case or the ISP or site administrator as appropriate). Again, DON'T YELL. Just tell the facts politely: your photos are on the site, you didn't give your permission, please remove them. The FAQ suggests that they are not tolerant of this kind of behaviour and will probably assist you. Note using more neutral language like "issue" rather than more stronger terms like "complaint" is again a way to increase the likelihood that they will help. I agree with you that you should confine your comments to the photos that you took yourself, as they are the only ones that you can say with total confidence are there without permission (even though you may suspect it is the case with other photos). Kerry

    03/01/2011 05:50:32