I have certainly heard a lot lately about census records and their use in family histories, in relation to copyright laws. In another area, I am planning on publishing a family history. Last summer I took a trip to Wisconsin and found some very old marriage, birth, and death certificates of which I paid for copies. My question is if I can actually scan these documents into my family history and print them in my publication. Is this an infringement on copyright? Does the law vary from state-to-state? How about old obituaties? Are they copyrighted? Or can they be used only before a specific date. Especially since I may want to quote the whole obituary. Or is just quoting the source from which they came sufficient? Thanks for any comments, Heather Hinckley
Heather, You asked if you could scan some old marriage, birth, and death certificates (for which you paid in order to get the copies) and then print them in a publication. They would be public documents, so you could do it. They can't be copyrighted. The Copyright Law of 1976 is federal and affects all states the same. Cliff Hinckley wrote: > I have certainly heard a lot lately about census records and their use in > family histories, in relation to copyright laws. > > In another area, I am planning on publishing a family history. Last summer > I took a trip to Wisconsin and found some very old marriage, birth, and > death certificates of which I paid for copies. My question is if I can > actually scan these documents into my family history and print them in my > publication. Is this an infringement on copyright? Does the law vary from > state-to-state? > > How about old obituaties? Are they copyrighted? Or can they be used only > before a specific date. Especially since I may want to quote the whole > obituary. Or is just quoting the source from which they came sufficient? > > Thanks for any comments, > Heather Hinckley > > ==== COPYRIGHT Mailing List ==== > Searchable archives at > http://listsearches.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/listsearch.pl?list=copyright > > ============================== > Ancestry.com Genealogical Databases > http://www.ancestry.com/rd/rwlist2.asp > Search over 2500 databases with one easy query!