When a person is being paid to write an article, then the employer holds the copyright.  Thus anyone employed by a newspaper can not hold the copyright of their articles. And yes back in the 1990's obits were challenged.  The court ruling was that people provide the information to the funeral home director who in turns provides it on a form provided by the newspaper.  Then the newspaper takes the data and creates a story - the obit.  Thus the newspaper must be contacted when someone wants to publish the obit in a book or placed online..  The copyright law extended all the rights that books, magazines, etc have to use on the internet  back in the 1990's too. At one conference it was mentioned that a newspaper took a person to court for reprinting obits in a family history book.  The newspaper won the case.  All the books had to be recalled by the individual and all given a total refund.  That person lost oodles over it - sale of books and all court costs. Debbi --- On Mon, 3/30/09, Richard & Jene Cheek <cheekfamok@yahoo.com> wrote: From: Richard & Jene Cheek <cheekfamok@yahoo.com> Subject: Re: [ILMACOUP] Obits and Copyright To: ilmacoup@rootsweb.com Date: Monday, March 30, 2009, 4:20 PM Just to muddy the water on copyrights.  Just because the newspapers print a copyright notice next the obituaries does not mean they actually hold the copyright to a particular obituary.  The copyright belongs to the creator or the one who originally wrote the obituary.  This is more often than not the family or the funeral home who submitted the original obituary to the newspaper. Even if the newspaper edits the obituary, they must substantially change it from the original form in order to claim copyright. To my knowledge there have been no court cases which held that a newspaper held copyright to an an obituary written by another party.  Consequently they (the newspapers) have no right to restrict others from copying and or reprinting the material.  What can object to is a photocopy or pdf file of an entire page or a substantial part of a page.  It is the page that is copyrighted not the text of the obituaries.  I know there are many genealogy and family history sites that will not let you publish obituaries because of the newspapers' claim to hold copyright, but the copyright laws are very clear that it is the creator who holds the copyright. So the only one who has a legal right to object to someone copying or reprinting an obituary is the one who wrote it. <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<| >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> "I hate war as only a soldier who has lived it can, only as one who has seen its brutality, its futility, its stupidity." -General Dwight David Eisenhower --- On Mon, 3/30/09, Debbi Geer <dgirth@yahoo.com> wrote: > From: Debbi Geer <dgirth@yahoo.com> > Subject: [ILMACOUP] Obits and Copyright > To: ilmacoup@rootsweb.com > Date: Monday, March 30, 2009, 12:01 PM > While we're on the subject of photos and use of them, > note that obituaries are copyrighted.  The copyright > belongs to the newspaper owner.  Thus no obit should appear > online without the owner's permission and that > permission must be noted.  Otherwise you are infringing > upon the copyright.  Copyright for obits follow the book > publication years - 75 years after published. > > The best way to avoid copyright infringement of obits is to > do an abstract.  I use this type when I'm at a library > where photocopy services are not available with the > microfilm reader.  I simply use a form I created (and can > be used by anyone) with the following info - > > Name of Deceased > Name of Newspaper > Date of Newspaper > Birth Date > Birth Place > Parents > Spouse > Marriage Date > Marriage Place > Death Date > Death Place > Age at time of Death > Children and if given Address > Grandchildren (number unless named) > Great-Grandchildren (number unless named) > Great-Great-Grandchildren (number unless named) > Siblings w/wo Spouse and if given Address > Burial Date > Burial Place > Funeral Home > Other info such as military, hobbies, organizations > > > This gives you all the info from the obit but because it is > not in a sentence/paragraph setup it does not violate the > copyright law.  (I worked with copyright for numerous years > as part of my job and would question those more > knowledgeable at conferences about genealogical needs.) > > > Debbi > > > > > >        > > Check out Macoupin County ILGenWeb page at > http://www.macoupinctygenealogy.org/. > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > ILMACOUP-request@rootsweb.com with the word > 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and > the body of the message       Check out Macoupin County ILGenWeb page at http://www.macoupinctygenealogy.org/. ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to ILMACOUP-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message