I have a question regarding copyright. About 20 years ago I visited the Illinois State Historical Society and made photo copies of many biographical sketches found in a book which had been published in 1883. About two years ago, a County Genealogy Society had the book reprinted and they now offer it for sale. My question is this: Can I post the information I collected 20 years ago (giving credit to the original author), or because it has recently been reprinted by the genealogy society, do they now own the copyright on this material? Thanks in advance. Karima

the copyright expired long time ago. The society don't own any copyright to the book, only the new additions if any. If it is simply a reprint, - no copyright. This was brought up two weeks ago by different person concerning very similiar book matter. David Karima wrote: > > I have a question regarding copyright. About 20 years ago I visited the > Illinois State Historical Society and made photo copies of many > biographical sketches found in a book which had been published in 1883. > > About two years ago, a County Genealogy Society had the book reprinted > and they now offer it for sale. > > My question is this: Can I post the information I collected 20 years > ago (giving credit to the original author), or because it has recently > been reprinted by the genealogy society, do they now own the copyright > on this material? > > Thanks in advance. > > Karima > > ==== COPYRIGHT Mailing List ==== > Threaded archives at > http://archiver.rootsweb.com/COPYRIGHT-L/ > > ============================== > Personalized Mailing Lists: never miss a connection again. > http://pml.rootsweb.com/ > Brought to you by RootsWeb.com.

Hi, The book published in 1883 is in the public domain. It can't be copyrighted. If it has been republished, any new and original added to the book, though, can be copyrighted. Yes, you can post it. Mike Goad http://www.rootsweb.com/~mikegoad/copyright1.htm At 08:38 PM 3/22/00 -0600, Karima wrote: >I have a question regarding copyright. About 20 years ago I visited the >Illinois State Historical Society and made photo copies of many >biographical sketches found in a book which had been published in 1883. > >About two years ago, a County Genealogy Society had the book reprinted >and they now offer it for sale. > >My question is this: Can I post the information I collected 20 years >ago (giving credit to the original author), or because it has recently >been reprinted by the genealogy society, do they now own the copyright >on this material? > >Thanks in advance. > >Karima > > >==== COPYRIGHT Mailing List ==== >Threaded archives at >http://archiver.rootsweb.com/COPYRIGHT-L/ > >============================== >Personalized Mailing Lists: never miss a connection again. >http://pml.rootsweb.com/ >Brought to you by RootsWeb.com.

Hi all, Here's an angle that I don't think has been discussed here. A distant relative was born in 1893 and published a genealogy in 1959. Sometime between 1959 and now, the author passed away. A couple of weeks ago a person on the mailing list for that surname came across a photo-copy of the entire book. It's not her direct line, so she offered to give it to anyone who can put a use to it. It's not my direct line, but I collect any and all information that I can on that line, so I told her that if no one else was interested, that I was. So she sent it to me. Now to throw a twist into it, another gentleman wrote and published a genealogy in the 1970s. For one branch of the family, he used the information word for word from the earlier 1959 work. This gentleman has given his permission for me to publish any of the material that I want from his 1970s book. Questions: 1. Am I infringing to have a photo copy of the 1959 book? 2. Was the lady that sent it to me infringing? 3. Did the gentleman who published the 1970s book infringe on the copyright of the 1959 book? 4. Am I infringing if I publish the material from the 1970s book that was copied from the 1959 book? The answers are: 1. No 2. No 3. No and 4. No The 1959 book is not protected under copyright law. The author published the book without registering it with the copyright office and without including a copyright notice. Before 1976, copyrighted works had to be registered and were required to carry a copyright notice. Lack of a copyright notice indicated lack of copyright protection. The book has been in the public domain since it was first published. http://www.rootsweb.com/~mikegoad/html/copyright11.htm Example: Just because a published book is dated 1975 doesn't mean its protected under copyright. If it doesn't bear the copyright symbol and have the copyright statement, it didn't satisfy the copyright requirements and, thus, is not protected today. Note: If a work was written before 1976, but was or is unpublished, it IS protected. It IS copyrighted. Mike

Mike, I think that the one important disclaimer that needs to be added to your post is that they book would have to have been published in the United States. Books published in Australia, the UK and the like I believe basically (if that word can ever be used with copyright law!) work off the plain 50 years after the death of the author. Maybe I mean in simple straightforward circumstances. Regards Andrew On 22 Mar 2000, at 22:10, Mike Goad <[email protected]> wrote: > Hi all, > > Here's an angle that I don't think has been discussed here. > > A distant relative was born in 1893 and published a genealogy in 1959. > Sometime between 1959 and now, the author passed away. > > A couple of weeks ago a person on the mailing list for that surname > came across a photo-copy of the entire book. It's not her direct > line, so she offered to give it to anyone who can put a use to it. > It's not my direct line, but I collect any and all information that I > can on that line, so I told her that if no one else was interested, > that I was. So she sent it to me. > > Now to throw a twist into it, another gentleman wrote and published a > genealogy in the 1970s. For one branch of the family, he used the > information word for word from the earlier 1959 work. This gentleman > has given his permission for me to publish any of the material that I > want from his 1970s book. > > Questions: > > 1. Am I infringing to have a photo copy of the 1959 book? > 2. Was the lady that sent it to me infringing? > 3. Did the gentleman who published the 1970s book infringe on the > copyright of the 1959 book? 4. Am I infringing if I publish the > material from the 1970s book that was copied from the 1959 book? > > The answers are: 1. No 2. No 3. No and 4. No > > The 1959 book is not protected under copyright law. The author > published the book without registering it with the copyright office > and without including a copyright notice. Before 1976, copyrighted > works had to be registered and were required to carry a copyright > notice. Lack of a copyright notice indicated lack of copyright > protection. The book has been in the public domain since it was first > published. > > http://www.rootsweb.com/~mikegoad/html/copyright11.htm > > Example: Just because a published book is dated 1975 doesn't mean its > protected under copyright. If it doesn't bear the copyright symbol > and have the copyright statement, it didn't satisfy the copyright > requirements and, thus, is not protected today. > > Note: If a work was written before 1976, but was or is unpublished, > it IS protected. It IS copyrighted. > > Mike -- Andrew Billinghurst * Have you got your free webpages at http://freepages.rootsweb.com ? * Find out how at http://www.rootsweb.com/rootsweb/press/freepages.html