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Ancestry wins yearbook lawsuit A lawsuit claiming that Ancestry was causing legal injury by posting yearbook photos on its website and using them in advertising and promotional materials has been thrown out by a California federal court. The case, brought in late 2020...

Ancestry sued for yearbooks

Case filed in California Where’s the line between making material available for genealogical research, and using private data for commercial gain? A lawsuit filed in federal court in San Francisco on Monday may help define the answer to that question. The case,...

Patently fascinating

A patent war anniversary He was a journeyman machinist in poor health, whose wife was taking in sewing to help support the family. And he wanted to make things easier for her. So Elias Howe, Jr., of Cambridge, Massachusetts, came up with a design that was the first...

Copyright of the law

On annotating the Georgia Code This isn’t a piece about the law of copyright. The Legal Genealogist writes about that all the time. No, today, we need to talk about the copyright of the law. Which is what Georgia tried to do, and the Supreme Court of the United...

Those boring cases

Another look at admiralty law The judicial power of the United States, according to Article III of the United States Constitution, shall extend “to all Cases, in Law and Equity, arising under this Constitution, the Laws of the United States, and Treaties made,...

A Down Under distraction

Convict datasets updated It’s been — and continues to be — a terrible terrible fire season Down Under, and our fellow genealogists need some relief. And while The Legal Genealogist can do nothing except watch in horror as the news from Australia...

Warranting distress

A stressful situation for all One sofa, valued at $10.00. Two carpets, another $10.00. A hearth rug, 50 cents. A table cloth and a looking glass, $3.00 each. A bureau, $8.00. Six chairs, $6.00. A small table, $2.50. A small glass, 50 cents. Blinds, $2.00. A rocking...

Beyond the named parties

Not just the story of Aaron Burr The Grand Jury in and for the U.S. Circuit Court for the District of Kentucky, Frankfort Term, was convinced. The man had committed treason against the United States of America. “He did willfully and unlawfully, and from evil...

History too

The Legal Genealogist is thoroughly embarrassed. Yesterday’s blog lamenting our newly-acquired headaches in finding federal court records due to the relocation of some records to a different National Archives repository missed part of the issue. Yes, as the blog...