>> 3) I have also seen it asserted that obits are formulaic, and therefore do > not constitute original expression and so are not copyrightable no matter > when they are published. I doubt if this is true in general, but have no way > of knowing how common it is or how one determines if the obit is formulaic. > Does anyone else have some information on this? >> >> S R C A on 11/29/00 8:29 AM, bunnyden at [email protected] wrote: > The editor of our newspaper (Mitchell, Davison County, SD) claims that we > cannot copy obits to the net strictly because they do not charge families > for having obits printed in the newpaper. I can understand his point of > view as the only reason people buy the newspaper in this town is to view the > obits. I realize that most other towns must pay to have an obit published > but does this fact change the copyright laws on the subject? Andie Whether or not the newspaper charges to print obits does not change the status of the obit under copyright law. If an obituary is copyright-protected [*], it can not be reprinted or copied to the net without permission of the publisher, and the publisher (or editor) can make that decision on any grounds he wants to. [*] I am not addressing whether obits are entitled to copyright protection in the first place, although I tend to think they are. --