'Stealing,' copyrighting, and giving proper credit

By Judy Fowler Kilgore

There has been some discussion recently on one of the private message boards about what can and cannot be copyrighted, “stealing” other people’s research, and those who fail to give proper credit to another when they use their research information.

There was an excellent article on this topic in a recent issue of Rootsweb Review, an online genealogy newsletter. The article pointed out that certain things may not be copyrighted, no matter how much research you did. Such things as a date on a gravestone or information in a marriage record are facts. And facts cannot be copyrighted.

Many people are reluctant to share their research because they feel someone may “steal” it and either use it in a book or display it online in their own family tree. I can certainly understand their concerns and have recently become a victim of this myself. Not that someone “stole” my research, I shared it freely. But it is only right and proper to give someone credit when you use information they researched themselves. And they did not. The next thing I knew, this person put all my information in her family tree on Rootsweb and didn’t say a word about where she got it. My only consolation is in knowing that the information is correct, so if anyone copies it, it will be passed on as correct information.

What I normally do when I receive family information from someone is to use that person’s name and e-mail address as my “source” until I can research it and find the primary records myself. I then add the information on where I found the record but I still leave the person’s name as one of my sources. This serves two purposes: one, it says someone has collaborated on the information; and, two, it gives people another contact if they care to research the family further. It also will brand you as a courteous researcher.

Copyrighting is a whole ‘nother ball game, but what it boils down to is this: If someone wrote it, composed it and tossed it out to the public, it is theirs and may not be used in its original context without permission of the person who wrote it. People may pick the facts out of your composition and use them, but they may not use the words you used to describe them.

This even goes for “facts” published in books, such as cemetery and marriage books. If you copy these and publish them in the same order and in the same words as they appear in the original composition, you have violated a copyright.

However, if you walk a cemetery yourself, record the information on the gravestones, and publish it on the Web or anywhere else, it is your own to do with as you please.

The same goes for marriage records or any other public records. If you research the original source, such as the original books in the courthouse, and compose the information into an organized, readable format, you may share it anyway you please, no matter how many people have already done marriage books for that county. You can even publish a book yourself and sell it. As long as you did the research from the original source, it is yours.

The complaint of many genealogy and historical societies is that they feel sharing the facts in their books will somehow hurt the sale of them. And most use their books as a source of income for the society. My personal feeling is this: if someone writes an e-mail requesting information from a book I have on hand, and I respond with the information, giving my source as the book and its author, it probably will make the person want to purchase the book for themselves. So, I have accomplished two purposes: I have shared information someone needed, and I’ve probably made a sale for the person who wrote the book.

One good example is this column. I was browsing the Boyd files on Rootsweb some time age, when I found, verbatim, several paragraphs I had written here in one of my columns. There was no reference to me, the column, or the newspaper anywhere.

Oops! Can’t do that. I wrote to her and explained the situation, asking her to give the newspaper as her source or delete the information. She deleted it. Nasty, wasn’t she?

To wrap this topic up, just remember that no one can “steal” your facts, but they can “steal” your words. If that happens, face them with it and stand your ground.

Don’t copy a significant amount of information from a book and publish it anywhere. And that includes “publishing” it on a public message board. You may copy small parts and give the book and the author as your source. Remember term papers and footnotes? Same principle.

If you want to be known as a courteous researcher, always give proper credit when you use someone’s research in your family tree. You might ask first and let them know your intentions. I always ask if the person minds if I add it to my online family tree, giving their name and e-mail as a source and contact. Many are thrilled that you offered them that courtesy. If they say no (no one has as yet), then I will honor their request and wait until I have done the research myself before I add it to my tree.

Courtesy is the byword in genealogy as it is in anything else. People will willingly share their information with you if you just show a little common courtesy.

And that’s the truth.

I welcome your letters about genealogy and info on your Atlanta metro families. Send them to The Citizen, Drawer 1719, Fayetteville, GA 30214; e-mail jkilgore@thecitizennews.com or jodiek444@aol.com.

Until next week, happy hunting!

(Judy regrets that time does not permit her to do personal research for others.)