Colleen, I don't think there is a reporter that does the obits. From my understanding, the Funeral Home gets the pertinent info from family members and submits it to the paper so that friends of the deceased are made aware of his/her death and can attend the viewing/funeral service. And the obituary notice is part of the funeral bill. I don't think there is a problem at all with copyright in this instance. Historical Societies are in big trouble if so. Sue