> From: "Greg Williams" <[email protected]> > To: [email protected] > Subject: Fw: [NJ-L] Congress Passes Bill Detrimental to Genealogists > Date: Tue, 10 Nov 1998 05:40:53 -0500 > -----Original Message----- > From: [email protected] <[email protected]> > To: [email protected] <[email protected]> > Date: Tuesday, November 10, 1998 12:56 AM > Subject: Fwd: [NJ-L] Congress Passes Bill Detrimental to Genealogists ><"jx116.A.k8G.EL9R2"@bl-30.rootsweb.com> > >To: [email protected] > >Resent-From: [email protected] > >X-Mailing-List: <[email protected]> archive/latest/789 > >X-Loop: [email protected] > >Precedence: list > >Resent-Sender: [email protected] > >Mime-Version: 1.0 > >Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII > >Content-transfer-encoding: 7bit > > > > > >============================================================== > > > >- Congress Passes Bill Detrimental to Genealogists > > > >The U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate have been working > >for a while on a bill designed to extend the term of copyright > >protection by 20 years. H.R. 2589, the House version of copyright > >term extension and now named, "The Sonny Bono Copyright Term > >Extension Act," was adopted by the full House or Representatives > >on March 25, 1998. The bill was sent to the Senate, where it > >languished for some time. In September the Senate passed a > >slightly different bill. The two bodies then worked out a > >compromise document. The House and the Senate passed S. 505 on > >October 7, 1998. President Clinton signed the bill on October 27, > >1998. > > > >Per our Constitution, our government, "to promote the science and > >useful arts" ... secures "for limited times to authors and > >inventors the exclusive right to their respective writings and > >discoveries." This balances the right of a person to make a > >profit, with the right of the people to the work (so they can > >freely make derivative works). > > > >Until 1979, the copyright term was 56 years: one 28 year term, > >extendible for an additional 28 years. Hence, in 1978 all works > >created in or before 1922 were in the public domain. In 1979, > >Congress RETROACTIVELY extended copyright terms 19 years, so that > >the material from 1923 has never entered the public domain. Now, > >19 years later, at the urging of the Walt Disney Company, the > >Gershwin heirs, and many others concerned with their rights to > >keep exclusive ownership of intellectual property, Congress has > >RETROACTIVELY extended copyright terms another 20 years, to 95 > >years. > > > >This means that materials written in 1923, which would have > >entered the public domain on Jan. 1, 1999, will now enter the > >public domain on Jan 1, 2019. Materials written in 1924 will now > >enter the public domain on Jan. 1, 2020. And that, sir, is only > >if Congress does not retroactively extend the term a third time. > > > >What impact does this have on genealogists? We all want > >information. In this day and age, information usually is found > >online or on CD-ROM disks. Yet the people who produce those online > >databases and CD-ROM disks are now prohibited from reproducing > >materials printed after 1922. > > > >Newspapers after 1922 (obituaries, especially) will now be in > >copyright for another 20 years. You'll need to wait 20 more years > >before they can be transcribed and put online for free. Old > >genealogies, which might be useful if reprinted, cannot be freely > >reprinted or placed online for an additional 20 years. Historical > >materials cannot be reprinted or placed online for an additional > >20 years. Likewise, obscure works whose copyright status is > >uncertain or where the heirs cannot be tracked down, cannot be > >placed online for an additional 20 years. > > > >For a much more detailed description of the impact, look at: > >http://www.public.asu.edu/~dkarjala/ > > > >My thanks to Richard J. Yanco for his update on the issue. He was > >quite helpful in describing the legal language of the bill to me. > >If you would like to contact Richard, he is at: > >[email protected] > > > > > >============================================================== > > > >If you want to see the current issue as well as back issues of the > >newsletter, look on the World Wide Web at: > > > > http://www.ancestry.com/columns/eastman/index.htm > > > >Please feel free to copy this subscription information and pass it > >on to anyone else who you think might be interested in obtaining a > >free subscription. > > > > > > > > > > > >==== NJ Mailing List ==== > >Listowner: Adrianne [email protected] > > > >Send your NJ family, Censuses, Probate, etc..records to the NJ GENWEB > Project > >Archives: Contact: Renee:[email protected] > > > >Townships: http://www.state.nj.us/infobank/locality.htm > > > > > >--part0_910677169_boundary-- > > > > > >==== COOK-CO-IL Mailing List ==== > >To contact the listowner of any list at ROOTSWEB send the message to: > >/listname/[email protected] (same address you used to sub to the list) > >IN THE SUBJECT LINE PUT: RE: LISTOWNER > >This tells the computer to send it to the listowner. > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > ==== PAFAYETT Mailing List ==== > "There is no better exercise for the heart > than reaching down and lifting people up." > _______________________________________________________ Get your free, private e-mail at http://mail.excite.com/