Treasures of the Smithsonian
With a CC0 license… February was Black History Month. March is Women’s History Month. And 2020 marks the 100th anniversary of women’s suffrage. So The Legal Genealogist chooses these images to illustrate the confluence of events: Why these two in...Using the work of others
Ask, don’t take Once more into the breach, dear friends: Copying someone else’s work without permission is wrong. The Legal Genealogist has sung this song before, more than once,1 but — like the mole in the whack-a-mole game — the issue keeps...Welcome to 1924!
The copyright clock keeps ticking For many Americans, this is the first Monday, first workday, sixth day of 2020. For The Legal Genealogist, it’s the sixth day of 1924. No, that’s not a typo. I really do mean 1924. The year that books were published, such...The history in the news
When is it copyright-free? It’s the kind of question that arrives in the email box of The Legal Genealogist on a regular basis. This one, from reader Jerry Lumpkins, is typical: “As I create ( or publish ) a book on our town’s history using newspaper...Originality counts
The limits on copyright Reader Dennis Yancey asks a great copyright question. “If a person transcribes the family record data in a Family Bible,” he asks, “can they claim copyright on this transcription?” And, he continues, “Is the answer to this pretty much the same...Copyright: an annual thing
Copyright-to-public domain Reader Jim H. was really hopeful. He has a reference source he would like to quote at length or republish large portions from and knows that it was published on or about March 1, 1924. And, he hoped, because materials published in the United...The new Creative Commons search
Fun, weird and sometimes frustrating One of the key ways to use copyright-protected material is to get a license. Now The Legal Genealogist wants you to stop panicking. That’s just a fancy legal word for permission. “Hey Mom,” you may ask, “can...The thing and the rights
… copyrights, that is … Reader Mindy Jarrett just ran head-first into one of the most common — and yet most perplexing — copyright problems to plague genealogists. The problem of the difference between ownership of the thing and ownership of...Welcome to 1923!!
The copyright clock finally starts ticking Finally. The Legal Genealogist can freely quote it today: “In the sweetness of friendship let there be laughter, and sharing of pleasures. For in the dew of little things, does the heart find its morning and is refreshed.”1...Subscribe by Email
