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More than 2000 more

Copyright-free images The Legal Genealogist has said it before and will undoubtedly say it again. It isn’t possible to overstate the debt that genealogists — and Americans — owe to Carol Highsmith.1 A debt that has just grown by more than 2000… Images, that is....

Welcome to 1927!

The copyright clock keeps ticking This is the second day of January and, for many Americans, the first Monday and work day of 2023. For The Legal Genealogist, it’s the second day of 1927. No, that’s not a typo. I really do mean 1927. The year that books...

Copyrighting the memoir

An essential difference in ownership A reader, M.S., has spent considerable amounts of time reviewing, transcribing and readying a memoir written by his grandmother for publication. He has personally written the preface, and his sister has written a biographical note...

About that legal limit…

… a copyright follow-up … The Legal Genealogist has been patiently waiting for the question to be posed. It was only a matter of time, though I will confess that it’s taken a lot longer than I thought it would. But yesterday was the day. After...

The risks of orphan status

… of a copyright, that is … Copyright in the United States doesn’t last forever. It just seems to. And it doesn’t help that the expiration is, by the way the law is written, often not a simple matter. The only really clear drop-dead date under...

Welcome to 1926!

The copyright clock keeps ticking For many Americans, this is the first Monday and work day of 2022. For The Legal Genealogist, it’s the third day of 1926. No, that’s not a typo. I really do mean 1926. The year that books like Ernest Hemingway’s The Sun...

Inheriting the copyright

Who gets it…? The Legal Genealogist trusts that — by now — readers understand that copyright lasts for some time after the death of the person who created the work: the book; the photo; the painting. Around the world, the minimum time generally is 50...

Credit doesn’t cut it

Copyright requires more It’s a constant refrain in the world of using other people’s content: “But I gave the author / photographer / artist credit!” The Legal Genealogist is here to remind us all: that ain’t enough if we’re using materials...

Contract, not copyright

Different laws, different rules If there’s any question that has readers more confused than the “why can’t I use this item from that website” question, The Legal Genealogist doesn’t know what it might be. It’s a question that comes in here...